


You Can't Hold Onto Secrets Forever

by webslinginstark



Series: A Psychic & A Detective: A Match Made in Heaven [2]
Category: Psych
Genre: Car Accidents, Fluff, Homophobic Language, Kidnapping, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 07:30:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14848392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/webslinginstark/pseuds/webslinginstark
Summary: With Lassiter's time and energy quickly being drained by an overwhelming case, a determined Shawn gets too close. Their relationship comes to a halt when things take a turn for the worse **Sequel to "Drink Your Feelings Away"**





	1. Secrets Aren't Always Best

**Author's Note:**

> *Please note I put homophobic language in the tags as it is used in chapter 10, not the whole work*
> 
> Disclaimer: In no way do I own psych nor any of the characters mentioned in my story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that this story takes place after my work titled, "Drink Your Feelings Away". You won't be missing out on anything if you decide not to read that, but I would recommend you read it before this one

Shawn tapped on his leg anxiously as he stared out the window of the small blue car. The latest case he and Gus were put on was driving him crazy. In fact, it was driving everyone crazy. Buzz McNab, the usually all smiles, outgoing, peppy police officer, no longer smiled or laughed at any of Shawn's jokes. Shawn's best friend, Gus, never backed him up during his jokes, or helped in any attempt to lighten the mood. Juliet, who was usually the more relaxed and untroubled of the group, was very much troubled at this point and rarely left the station, much like her partner. Shawn didn't even want to start thinking about how much of a toll this case has taken on her partner, or otherwise known as Shawn's secret boyfriend of two months. Lassiter has looked at this case from every possible angle more times than he could count on one hand. If someone was to say Lassiter practically lived at the station before this case, they would believe themselves now. The only time Lassiter was caught out of the station was when it was his turn to make a coffee run, or when he was in dire need of a shower and fresh clothes.

Lassiter and Shawn started dating roughly three weeks before the start of the case, and officially called each other boyfriends about a week before the case. Shawn was aggravated that this case was keeping him from seeing Lassiter more often. The few times they would have time together were at the station, where Lassiter wouldn't lift his head from the case file, or at a crime scene, where Lassiter put on his usual facade of hating Shawn. It was clear to Shawn that the root of his anger wasn't coming from the case being so much of a struggle, but more of Lassiter not wanting to tell everyone just yet that they were a couple, and had to pretend that they still had it out for each other. "

Shawn," Gus said directly to Shawn as they pulled into the parking lot of the station. "Shawn," he called again when Shawn didn't turn to face him or acknowledge him in anyway. "Shawn," he said again, louder this time. Gus sighed and reached forward to grab Shawn's shoulder and shake him out of his thoughts. "Shawn, seriously. We're here," he told him as he continued to shake his shoulder.

Shawn turned his heads towards Gus with his eyebrows raised once he recognized he was talking to him. "Hm? Sorry, buddy. Got distracted," Shawn replied simply as he pushed the door open and climbed out of the car deemed the blueberry. He followed Gus up the stairs and pushed his hands in his pockets, still mulling over the case. "It's just the case," he admitted to Gus and watched as his friend sighed and rolled his eyes. "It's a simple case, but it's more difficult than it should be."

Gus turned to look at Shawn and scoffed. "Really, Shawn? You say that about every case."

Shawn shook his head at his friend's opinion. "This time it really is, Gus," he insisted. "There should be a trail to follow, there always is, and I always find it," he paused to think about how this case would hit a dead end after every single lead. "It's as if the Cinco Reyes know when we're onto them. And that's impossible," Shawn mumbled mostly to himself as he stepped into the police station behind Gus.

Gus stopped in his tracks when Shawn was no longer by his side, but staring at the floor in thought. He backtracked the few steps to Shawn and nudged him in his side with his elbow. "Shawn, can you just hurry up and say hi to Lassiter so we can get lunch?" He whispered into his friend's ear as he glanced at Detective Lassiter's desk. "I still don't know why you insist on swinging by everyday. He never acknowledges you," he pointed out to his friend before he got the chance to step away.

Shawn turned to face Gus as he continued to walk backwards towards Lassiter's desk. "Today I'm putting my foot down. You should be proud," he declared with a half smile to the only other person who was aware of the relationship.

The walk from where Gus was standing to where Lassiter's desk was located was fairly short, meaning Shawn only had a few moments to prepare himself for what he was going to say to the man he was confronting. When he reached the desk he leaned forward and placed his hands on the edge as he bent down slightly. "Hey, Lassieface," he beamed with a smile to the man sitting in front of him. Although Shawn was trying to start a conversation, Lassiter was not having it. Just like usual, he thought to himself before he cleared his thought in an attempt to make his presence known.

Lassiter simply sighed at the disturbance and put his pen down for a moment. "Spencer, will you please go away? I'm trying to do actual police work here," Lassiter hissed at Shawn without bothering to look up at him.

A switch flipped inside of Shawn and he couldn't take it anymore. He was tired of Lassie ignoring him and he was tired of all the hatred, even if it was just to fool the rest of the department. He bent down closer to Lassie's head before he spoke. "Can I speak with you in private for a moment, Detective?" Shawn demanded.

The change in emotion in Shawn's voice was so drastic and so sudden, Lassiter couldn't help but look up to see if he was being serious or not. Lassiter fought hard to hide the shock from his face at the sight of how angry Shawn looked. He nodded his head slowly before he pushed himself out of his desk chair and turned to walk in the direction of the investigation rooms.

Lassiter checked his surroundings carefully before he pushed the door open to the empty room and stepped inside. He waited for Shawn to follow him in before he shut the door behind him and took another look through the small window, making sure no one saw them.

Shawn rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's paranoid behaviour and sighed as he leaned back to sit against the metal table. "You know, you really should stop being so paranoid," he commented on Lassiter's behaviour.

Lassiter rolled his own eyes at the statement as he leaned against the brick wall, opposite of Shawn. "Well, I'm sorry if I'm not quite ready to let the entire police department in on our personal relationship," he informed Shawn for what felt like the 1000th time.

"I understand not telling everybody," Shawn said in agreement with Lassiter. "But I don't understand why you won't tell Jules. She's your partner. Hell, she's your friend," Shawn pointed out, while fighting to keep his voice at a controlled volume.

"If you want me to tell O'Hara, fine. I will," he reasoned with Shawn. "But I know that's not what you really want to talk about," he objected with Shawn's focus in the argument.

Shawn glanced down to the floor and crossed his arms as he pondered how to say what he needed to. "I miss you," he blurted out without much thought to the words. As he glanced back up he could see the confusion in Lassie's face and he elaborated on what he meant. "It's been two weeks since you've been to my apartment, or since I've been to your's, and I miss spending time with you," he clarified. "Yes, I understand you're just doing your job and working on the case, which technically I'm supposed to be working on too, but I just can't help but feel like you're using the case to your advantage to ignore me, or avoid me for some reason."

Lassiter's heart broke upon hearing those words fly out of Shawn's mouth. It wasn't until that exact moment that he could see just how beat down and hurt Shawn was. He immediately stepped forward and placed his hands on the shorter man's shoulders. "Shawn, I am so so sorry you feel like I've been avoiding you," he apologised to Shawn before explaining himself. "I never meant to ignore you, I've just been trying to solve this case as quickly as possible so we could have more time to ourselves."

Shawn nodded his head at Lassiter's explanation, although he still felt a twinge of anger at the back of his mind, and he needed to get it out. "I just don't understand why you can't leave the station once in awhile to see me. It doesn't even have to be anything special. Just spending the night at my place, so that way I know you're not pushing yourself too hard," Shawn mumbled just loud enough for Lassiter to hear. He started to say something to Shawn, but he got cut off. "Even Jules leaves the station to get a few hours of sleep in her own bed," he said harshly.

Lassiter waited a moment to reply to Shawn, making sure he wasn't going to get cut off again. "How about this. I will spend the night at your place tonight. I'll leave the station at 10:00, and be there no later than 10:20. We can do whatever you want," he suggested as he watched Shawn's face light up in front of him.

Shawn could feel as the grin spread across his face at the idea of Lassie finally spending the night with him after who know's how long. He also felt as the grin turned into a smirk at his latest idea. "Sound's like a plan. Except for one thing," he started to say and waited for Lassiter to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Make it 9:00 instead of 10:00."

Lassiter smiled as he rolled his eyes. It didn't surprise him that he was trying to manage as much time with him as possible. "Fine, 9:00 it is."

Shawn immediately leaned up and closed the gap between the two of them, and gave Lassiter a quick but sweet kiss before he started for the door. "Oh, and one more thing. Don't forget to tell Jules where you're going." He couldn't help but smirk as he watched Lassiter's jaw drop wide open, before he turned and walked out of the interrogation room.

The smile that had taken over his face didn't falter even the slightest on his way back to where Gus was waiting for him. As Shawn rounded the corner, Gus couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the sudden gleefulness his friend had. "What exactly did you say to him?" Gus asked, in shock.

"Let's just say Lassie's coming over tonight," Shawn said cheerfully. "Now, where were we? Jerk Chicken?" Shawn asked his friend the no brainer question with the smile still on his face as he stuck his fist out.

"You know that's right," Gus declared to Shawn as he stuck his fist out to complete the first bump.


	2. What Do You Call a Sexy Bunny?

The restaurant was quiet. Shawn and Gus had walked in at 2:10pm. There was about an hour until closing time, so the pair wasn't surprised to find it practically empty. They sat down at the first booth they saw, Shawn taking the side of the booth so he could see the front door. He scanned the outside surroundings. Across the street was a simple laundromat combined with a tailoring service. He made a note to check out their prices as he reached to grab a menu off the side of the table. He found himself just staring at the menu, thinking about the case instead. "It still doesn't make any sense," he mumbled to himself, although he was loud enough for Gus to hear.

"What doesn't make sense?" Gus asked as he glanced over the different options on the menu, his mouth watering at all the delicious options.

"The case," Shawn blurted out and waited for Gus to intervene and tell him to stop worrying about it and focus on what to order, but when that comment never came he continued with his train of thought. "Each time we sweep in to make a bust, the Cinco Reyes is always a few minutes ahead of us and are nowhere to be seen. They even manage to take all their supply with them."

Gus lowered his menu to look at his friend, who was clearly deep in thought. "Have you ever considered that they change locations regularly? Maybe when we get there we just happen to line up with their switch," he added to the conversation, although he didn't believe the theory himself.

Shawn chuckled slightly at the theory Gus was trying to provide. "Actually I'm afraid we have a mark in the police department," he theorized.

Gus shot up an eyebrow in confusion. "A mark? Shawn, what the hell are you on about?"

"You know, someone on the inside. Like a spy," Shawn clarified his past statement.

"You mean a mole, Shawn. Not a mark," Gus assured him.

Shawn rolled his eyes. "I've heard it both ways," he claimed like he always did when he was wrong about something.

"No, you haven't. You have most definitely not heard it both ways,"

Shawn simply dropped his menu to the table and started going through the case file in his head. He had to have been missing something, he had to. Images flew by in his mind of the only four known Cinco Reyes members to the SBPD. He looked back up to say something to Gus when his eyes glanced behind him, towards the giant window by the door. His jaw dropped slightly as he recognized the man who walked by the front of the restaurant before he crossed the street in the direction of the laundromat. "Gus," Shawn whispered as he didn't take his eyes off the Cinco Reyes member. "That's him. From Lassie's case file," he squinted his eyes and placed his index finger to his head in an attempt to remember the name. "Playboy, he does all the dirty work. He has to be on his way to the lab. Let's follow him," Shawn suggested and before Gus had the chance to deny the request, Shawn was up and out of the door.

"Shawn! Shawn, wait up!" Gus called after him in an attempt to slow him down so he didn't leave Gus behind.

Shawn stopped outside the laundromat and peered in as he waited for Gus to catch up. He watched as Playboy walked up to another man who was unconvincingly doing a load of laundry as a cover. "Gus, take off your jacket," Shawn said simply as he stuck his hand out when Gus approached him.

"You must be out of your damn mind, Shawn! This is a Paul Smith jacket. It's worth $150," Gus said, insulted that his friend would even consider using his jacket as a decoy.

"Gus, you bought it for $50 on ebay," Shawn explained after Gus' outburst. "We can't just walk in there without something to wash, and I'm not wearing any extra layers."

Gus glanced between Shawn, the inside of the laundromat, and his jacket multiple times before giving in and slipping it over his shoulders. "Fine, but I get to do the washing. I don't want you touching this jacket."

Shawn nodded his head in agreement with Gus' plan as he pulled the door open and followed Gus inside. Shawn led Gus to an open washing machine on the opposite side of where the guard was doing his fake load. "Don't actually start it, I have an idea," he whispered to Gus before he walked off in the direction of the Guard. "Hi, excuse me, sorry to bother you, but I was just wondering if you happened to have any detergent my friend and I could use? He spilled something on his jacket and we don't just carry soap with us. That would be weird," he fake chuckled as the Guard, who was almost a foot taller than Shawn, just stared down in unamusement.

He turned his head slightly to the right where a door lead to some stairs, and Shawn presumed they led to a basement. "Do you think they keep extras down there? In storage," he asked the giant man before he took a step towards the door that was cracked open just slightly. Upon further examination he could see a group of people inside standing by a table, and Shawn knew he just found their most recent lab.

His view of the lab was cut short when the giant guard stepped in front of him, blocking his view just before he shoved him back and growled, "You have no access. Leave now."

Shawn took the threat seriously and put his hands up in defense. "Sorry man, we'll just be on our way now," he said quickly as he turned towards the exit and hurried out of there, grabbing Gus' arm as he walked by and dragged him out as well.

"Please tell me you got something, other than possible bruises from that giant," Gus asked, as he slipped his jacket back on, hoping they didn't waste valuable time.

Shawn smirked as he looked back into the laundromat. "Oh I got something alright. The Cinco Reyes are definitely hiding a drug lab in that basement."

Finally the pair had finally gotten another lead on the case and Gus stuck his fist out to Shawn as he reached for his car keys in his pocket. Shawn completed the first bump and pulled his phone out to text Lassiter. "I'm gonna tell Lassie we're on our way and I'm getting a really big vision."

* * *

 

Shawn sat himself down on the edge of Lassiter's desk and closed his eyes. He placed both his hands at the side of his head and furrowed his brows in thought. "Oh I'm getting something. Something big," Shawn declared, and everyone in the station dropped what they were doing and hurried to watch Shawn have his vision. "No wait. It's not big, but it's small. And furry?" He questioned the 'spirits'. "Yes, It's small and furry. And.. Sexy?" He questioned again as he leapt off the desk and began to jump around, mimicking a rabbit.

Lassiter sat in his chair as he watched, very confused, as Shawn jumped up and down. Suddenly Lassiter understood the connection between the jumping and the small, furry, sexy thing Shawn described. "Playboy!" He shouted as he jumped from his chair into a standing position.

"Yes! Playboy!" Shawn yelled back in agreement. He stopped bouncing and stumbled back a few steps, but caught his balance before he could hit the ground. "I can see it now. Clothes, soap, and coins?" He said aloud, unconvinced of the spirit's information.

"A laundromat?" Juliet added to the conversation, although she didn't understand what a laundromat had to do with playboy.

Shawn nodded his head at Juliet. "It's getting clearer now," he explained to the members of the SBPD who were simply watching him. "I see Playboy, in a laundromat. And I see a basement," Shawn paused and shot his eyes open for a dramatic finish. "The laundromat is the latest lab!" At his outburst of information he noticed several officers gasp, and some return to their desk to locate the nearest laundromat. Shawn looked out of the corner of his eye and realized he was standing directly in front of Lassiter. Deciding to make the most of the moment, he put his hand over his eyes dramatically and let himself fall back into the detective's arms.

The detective acted quick as his reflexes kicked in and he reached his arms out to catch Shawn. He only allowed himself to have a split second of panic before he quickly turned back into his normal self. "Spencer, what the hell," he growled slightly as he pushed Shawn upright. Shawn simply smiled at Lassiter and made himself comfortable against his desk once again.

The group quickly searched through the Cinco Reyes' territory for any known laundromats. While Shawn knew the address of the laundromat, he thought it would be too specific to just give it away. All four people at Lassiter's desk were so consumed in looking at maps that they all jumped when someone suddenly spoke right next to them. "Sir, the only laundromat within the Cinco Reyes' territory is the 'Wash and Fun Coin-op Laundry' off the corner of San Andres Street and West Sola Street," the detective said mainly to Lassiter as he handed him a map with a dot on the location.

Lassiter grabbed the map from the detective's hand and looked down at it. The laundromat was almost in the direct center of Cinco Reyes territory, and it was close to their last lab. "Good work, Davidson," he congratulated the detective still standing in front of him. "Go notify the S.W.A.T team of the location and prepare for a bust."

Detective Davidson nodded his head at Lassiter's command and pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Yes sir," he responded simply before walking away with his phone to his ear.

Shawn watched as the detective walked off, although he wasn't sure why he felt the need to watch him leave. He quickly snapped his head back towards the group when Lassiter called his name. "Spencer, are you coming or not?" He repeated once he was acknowledged by Shawn looking at him. Shawn didn't bother saying anything, he simply jumped off the desk and followed behind Lassiter and Juliet as they made their way out of the station.


	3. Fooled Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have realized that I have failed to give background to this fic. Well here goes: it's set in season 3, before the episode "Lassie Did a Bad Bad Thing." I have taken the name "Cinco Reyes" from that episode and turned it into a drug gang for the purpose of this story.
> 
> Now that you know more about the background.. I give you:

Shawn tugged at the bulletproof vest he was forced to wear. Gus rolled his eyes at his best friend's actions and slapped his hand away from the vest. "Stop messing with it, Shawn," he whispered.

He lowered his hand in shame and focused on where the group was going. "It's very uncomfortable, okay. It's too tight," Shawn explained when the group stopped before opening the main door to the laundromat.

"Well, if you want it to protect you from bullets, it has to be tight," Gus reminded him.

The pair stayed back outside the laundromat until they were cleared to enter. They heard a faint "Clear!" from inside and followed the officers inside.

Lassiter turned to the two of them as they walked in. "Alright, Spencer. Where's the lab?" He asked as he turned to face them.

Shawn glanced to the backdoor for a second before quickly shutting his eyes and raising his hand to his head. "I see it! The lab. It's in a basement. And it's," he paused just slightly for a dramatic effect before shooting his eyes open and pointing at the door in the back. "It's behind that door!" he exclaimed suddenly.

Juliet turned to her partner and nodded her head. She readied her gun and reached for the door handle. "On the count of three," she suggested to him. He simply nodded his head in understanding as he readied his gun as well. "One," she said slowly. "Two," she tightened her grip on the door handle. "Three!" She yelled as she turned the door handle and pushed it open.

"Santa Barbara Police Department! Freeze!" Lassiter yelled as he entered the room, carefully going down the few steps that led to a concrete floor. He lowered his gun slightly as he glanced around the room. It was empty. Not a person in sight. The only thing occupying the room was a fold up table, with nothing on top of it. He completely lowered his gun to his side and turned on his heels to leave the room. Three times. Three times they've tried to make a bust, only to come up empty handed. He stomped up the steps, holstering his gun. "It's clear," he swore to his partner who was waiting for his call.

She lowered her weapon as well and kicked at the floor. "You've got to be kidding," she muttered to herself.

Lassiter made his way past the officers standing there, dumbfounded. He walked up to Shawn and poked him in the chest. "Good job, _Psychic_ " he hissed at the shorter man.

Shawn's jaw fell slack at the sudden force Lassiter was using, and the change of tone in his voice. He raised his hands in defense as he took a step back from Lassiter. "Look, Lassie. I'm telling you. I saw it clear as day," he assured him as he put his hand back to his head. "Playboy entered that room and there was four other men working on something on that table."

Lassiter felt his hands curl into fists at his side as Shawn continued explaining his vision. "I heard you the first time, and I'm telling you that it wasn't good enough," he shot back.

Shawn felt his heart speed up. He'd never truly ever been afraid of Lassiter until this moment. He couldn't even recall seeing him so mad either. He allowed his fear to show on his face as his eyes widened when he took another step back, trying to put as much distance between himself and the detective as possible. He felt his body relax as someone caught Lassiter's attention.

"Detective Lassiter!" The Chief yelled sternly. Lassiter quickly turned himself away from Shawn and let his hands unfold. "Perhaps you should step outside," she suggested, but from the tone of her voice it was clear she was demanding it. Lassiter nodded his head at the order and led himself to the exit.

Shawn let out a sigh of relief when the detective walked away. He turned himself to Gus and furrowed his eyebrows. "Really man?" He muttered to his friend. "Were you planning on stepping in anytime soon? Lassie was ready to beat the shit out of me!"

Gus looked shocked that Shawn would make such an accusation. "First of all, I was ready to put myself between you and him if he took another step closer. And second of all, I don't believe Lassiter has it in him to hurt you intentionally. Especially now that you two are dating," he calmly explained to Shawn, and was relieved to see that he calmed down.

"Who's dating now?" Juliet asked curiously as she approached the two of them at the end of their conversation.

Shawn felt himself freeze in his step, not even daring to breath, afraid his secret was out. He knew Lassiter would be even more pissed if he found out he let if slip to Jules that the two of them were dating.

She looked at Shawn with a raised eyebrow at his reaction. "You know Shawn, if you got a new girlfriend, it's okay. We're just friends," she said in an attempt to relax him.

He nodded his head slowly and decided to roll with it. "Y-Yeah," he stuttered as he rubbed the back of his neck. He felt like he was betraying Lassiter for saying he has a girlfriend, but he figured it was better than letting the truth out too soon. "Yeah, I've got a new girlfriend now," he told her sheepishly.

"You don't have to be embarrassed, Shawn," she assured him with a smile. "Sorry, but I have to go find Lassiter now. We've got tons of paperwork to do."

The two watched as Juliet left, surprisingly happy considering what just happened. "She seems unusually joyful, right?" Gus asked.

"Yeah. It's very strange," Shawn agreed with his friend. "And better yet, she thinks I have a girlfriend. Can you believe it?"

Gus was very confused by Shawn's change of attitude. One moment he felt bad for not telling Juliet he was in a relationship, but the second she knows, he feels just as bad. "Shawn, aren't you just glad she doesn't know who you're actually dating?"

"I don't know. I guess so. I'm just afraid she's going to mention it to Lassie and he's going to get even more upset," he confessed as he stared down at the floor.

"How about you cross that bridge when you get to it, but for now we head back to the station. Juliet and Lassiter just left," Gus suggested as he watched the two detectives climb into Lassiter's car and drive off.

Shawn turned his head to the window Gus was looking out of and just barely managed to watch the car drive out of view. "That's probably a good idea," he acknowledged his friend's idea. "And besides, I think I'm starting to understand why we're always one step behind the Cinco Reyes."

* * *

 

"For the last time, Spencer. The answer is no. It's just impossible. There's no way in hell that would be the case," Lassiter told Shawn sternly. He had managed to cool himself down enough on the drive back to the station that he allowed himself to hear Shawn's latest theory.

"But Lassie, just think about it," Shawn insisted as he dangled his feet off the edge of Lassiter's desk. "Why do you think we're always minutes behind the Cinco Reyes. There's no way those gang members would be able to know we're onto them unless someone tipped them off!"

Lassiter rubbed his temples as he processed what Shawn was telling him. "Listen, Shawn," he leaned forward slightly to say his name just loud enough for Shawn to hear it. "I know this police department inside and out. There's no way it's an inside job."

The two men both felt themselves jump as someone unexpectedly made their presence known. "Sorry to interrupt, Sir," he said simply and straight to the point as he handed Lassiter a case file. "The Chief wants you to write the report on what happened today right away."

Lassiter grabbed the file from the younger detective and nodded him off. "Will do. Thanks, Davidson," he said before he dropped the file down next to where Shawn was sitting and groaned. "Shawn, I'm sorry, but it's just not possible. Now if you'll excuse me I now have loads of paperwork I have to complete before I can even think about leaving."

Shawn frowned before looking back up with a smile. "You're still coming over tonight though, right?" He clarified with the detective.

Lassiter reached forward, grabbed the file, and flipped through it. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to make it. And besides, I still need time to calm down after the failed bust," he explained simply for Shawn.

Shawn sighed and lowered himself off the desk before turning to where Gus was waiting for him. "See you tomorrow, Detective Lassiter," he murmured as he walked away.

"What was that all about?" Gus questioned as his friend joined up with him and they made their way towards the exit.

Shawn huffed and recalled simply what just happened. "I got blown off, Gus."

"Ouch, sorry buddy," Gus tried sympathizing with his best friend. "How about smoothies?"

Shawn contemplated the offer before turning it down. "You know, I'd actually rather just go to sleep. I'm pretty tired," he said as he faked a yawn, trying to be more convincing.

Gus looked at Shawn weirdly. Something truly had to be wrong for Shawn to turn down any type of food, or beverage. "Okay, whatever you say," he said as he agreed nonetheless to drive his friend straight home.

* * *

 

Shawn waved Gus goodbye before he stepped into his apartment and flipped the light on. He slid his shoes off and left them by the door before stretching his arms out and actually yawning. He was actually pretty tired after the way events unfolded today. He shuffled down the hall, attempting not to bump into any walls in his half sleep state.

Somehow he managed to make his way into his bedroom in one piece without breaking anything in the hallway. He freed himself from his jeans and left them in the middle of his floor where he'd taken them off. Without a second thought, he jumped into his bed and shifted to get comfortable. Although he was upset that his boyfriend wasn't sharing the bed like he was supposed too, he still managed to fall asleep almost the second his head his his pillow.

* * *

 

Shawn wasn't aware how long he'd been asleep for, but all he was aware of was the sudden crash that came from his living room. His eyes shot open as he tried to replay the sound in his head, looking for any clues as to what it could've been. After a few moments of intense concentration yielding no results, he sat up in his bed.

There wasn't a single sound that came after the first crash, and Shawn wasn't sure if he should be afraid or glad of that fact. Unaware of what to do, let alone think, he grabbed his phone off the nightstand and dialed the first number that came to his mind.

 _Shawn, it's four o'clock in the morning. What could you possibly need at this hour?_ Lassiter grumbled into the phone after he answered the call.

Shawn allowed himself to calm down, knowing that Lassiter was there with him, even if not in person. He slowly pushed himself out of his bed and began approaching his door, which was cracked open. He felt his heart race again at the sight, knowing he always makes sure to shut his door completely every night. Even last night when he was dead tired.

On the other end of the phone Lassiter got worried quick when Shawn didn't reply. He wasn't the type of person to call in the middle of the night without reason. _Shawn, what is it? What's wrong?_ He asked frantically yet calm at the same time as his worry grew with every passing second Shawn didn't say anything.

Lassiter's voice was enough to knock Shawn out of the fear that was starting to build up. "Lassie?" He questioned, even though he knew that's who he was on the phone with.

 _Shawn, you're scaring me. What is it?_ He asked once again of Shawn as he himself jumped out of bed, grabbed his car keys and gun off his nightstand, and got ready to haul ass to Shawn's apartment need be.

Shawn slowly pulled his bedroom door open the remainder of the way and took a few steps into the hallway. He held his phone tight as he peered down the length of the wall into his living room. "I-I think someone's in my living room," Shawn suddenly clarified for Lassiter.

At this point Lassiter was already out his front door and approaching his car when those words came out of Shawn's mouth. _Do not go into the living room, and do not hang up on me, you understand, Shawn? I'm on my way over right now, and I need you to stay in your bedroom._

Although Shawn nodded his head at Lassiter's order, he blatantly ignored it as he stepped into the room. He wasn't even aware he had gasped until he heard Lassiter's frantic calling of his name coming from his phone when he dropped it to the floor. He watched as his front door was pulled shut, from the outside, revealing two words painted onto the inside of it. _"Back Off"._


	4. The Damage

Lassiter was unable to process his thoughts correctly. The detective side of him was trying to assess the situation and follow protocol before running into the scene unprepared, but the personal side of him was throwing any thought that wasn't about Shawn right to the side. He focused his attention back to the road as he readjusted his grip on the steering wheel. For some reason this drive felt like it was taking longer than usual, and Lassiter was determined to reach Shawn as quick as possible so he slammed his foot down on the gas pedal.

When he pulled into the parking lot of Shawn's apartment he pulled his car to a halt in the nearest parking spot. It just happened that the parking spot he chose was right next to Shawn's motorcycle and Lassiter felt his jaw drop at the sight in front of him. Glass surrounded the bike and it was clear the mirrors were shattered. Upon further investigation, he was just barely able to make out that the bike was sitting lower than usual. He glanced down and saw that both tires were slashed, and not gracefully at that. Jagged cut marks ran the full circle length of the wheel, clearly a work of anger, or revenge.

He pulled himself from his thoughts of the bike and pulled his attention to the more important matter, Shawn. He turned his head to where Shawn's apartment was located and saw the lights on. Before he knew it, he took off in a full sprint, taking the stairs to Shawn's floor two at a time. When he reached the top floor he quickly pulled his gun out of the waistband of his pants and clicked off the safety. He grabbed the doorknob and pushed the door open as he raised his gun to eye level.

With his gun outstretched in front of him, Lassiter took two big steps inside the doorway, turning to his right and left to check for any intruders. He lowered his gun just slightly when no one posed any immediate threat. Cautiously he took two more steps into the living room and froze when he saw Shawn's phone on the ground. He crouched down to grab the phone from the floor. Peering at the screen he noticed the page was left on his contact. Quickly he pocketed the phone and stood back up, raising his gun once again. "Shawn? Are you here? It's me, Lassiter," he called out to the seemingly empty apartment as he made his way to the bedroom.

The bedroom door was halfway open, so Lassiter reached his hand forward and pushed it open all the way as he raised his gun once again. He glanced inside the bedroom and his worry spiked. Shawn was yet to be seen. He worried that something had happened to him after he dropped his phone. Lassiter shook his head to clear his thoughts of anything negative as he rounded the other side of the door to where the bathroom was located. He kept his gun raised in front of him as he closed the distance between the bedroom door and the bathroom door. As he reached his hand forward to grab the doorknob he tightened his grip on his gun, before he quickly through the door open and stepped inside, aiming his gun at the first thing he saw. The first thing he saw just happened to be Shawn sitting on the bathroom floor with his knees tucked to his chest.

Without hesitation Lassiter lowered his gun while clicking the safety on at the same time, before shoving it in the back waistband where it was originally. He lowered himself to the ground, resting on his knees as he reached his arm out to grab Shawn's shoulder. Lassiter couldn't help himself when he jumped as a result of Shawn jumping from his touch. He simply watched the fear fade from the other man's eyes as he came to the realization who it was that touched him. "Lassie!" He yelled out as he pushed himself forward into Lassiter's arms, embracing him tightly as he planted a loving kiss on his lips.

Luckily Lassiter was able to shoot his arm back and brace himself for the sudden impact of Shawn launching himself at him. Once he was able to remain upright he wrapped his arms around Shawn just as tightly as Shawn had his, and he kissed him back before pulling away to talk. "Shawn, you scared the hell out of me," Lassiter said quietly without letting go of Shawn.

Shawn perked his head up slightly at the comment, but didn't try to pull away. "I scared you? Imagine how I felt, Lassie. Someone broke into my apartment and left a threatening message," He began explaining before Lassiter finally pulled himself away.

"Say what now? A threatening message? Shawn you need to show me right now," Lassiter said sternly as he began to push himself back into a standing position while offering Shawn a hand up.

Shawn looked at him confused. Surely Lassiter would've seen the words written on the back of the front door when he came in. "How didn't you see it? It was on the back of my front door. Kind of hard to miss," he joked slightly to take his mind off the fear of some random stranger in his apartment.

"Well, I wasn't focused on the back of the door. I was more focused on finding you. And imagine my worry when I didn't find you right away, Shawn," Lassiter confessed to Shawn as the two walked into the living room.

Shawn mumbled a quick, "Sorry," before he pushed his front door shut, revealing the words to Lassiter.

Lassiter scanned the words multiple times as he tried to make sense of what they meant. "I don't get it. Who would be telling you to back off? We haven't caught any of the Cinco Reyes in action," he said aloud, mostly to himself as he brainstormed the possibilities. He quickly shook his head and turned back to Shawn. "I feel like I could've done something more for the situation if I was here, Shawn. I'm sorry I blew you off at the station," he apologized as he reached for Shawn's hand.

"I accept your apology Lassie, but I think if you were here it would've made the situation worse," Shawn explained as he laced his fingers with Lassiter's when he explained his latest theory.

Lassiter raised his eyebrow at the statement and didn't understand. "What are you talking about, Shawn?" He asked simply.

Shawn looked down to the ground before looking back up to Lassiter. He honestly felt like a real jerk for prying so hard at the rogue cop angle but at this point it was hard to deny it. "Look, I know I already told you this, but I'm certain of it now," he started explaining it slowly to Lassiter. "Just think about it. Someone broke into my apartment. They knew exactly how to not get caught. And the message they left? 'Back Off'? The only people that know when we get close to the Cinco Reyes is us. The police department," he paused just slightly to see the recognition in Lassiter's face before moving onto his next point. "And that's why I'm glad you weren't here, Lassie. Whoever it was that broke into my apartment, rogue cop or not, they were in my bedroom. If you were here they would've found out about us," he finished painfully explaining for the man standing in front of him.

Lassiter wasn't sure how he should react. Shawn just once again called out the police department, and he also said that a stranger was in his room. He didn't know if he should be angry at Shawn, or if he should be even more worried for him. "You said whoever broke in was also in your room. How do you know that?" He asked, deciding he needed to be more worried with the new information.

"When I got up to investigate my bedroom door was cracked open. And you know that I always, always, shut my bedroom door every night," he explained as he stressed the second 'always'.

Lassiter nodded his head. It wasn't until then when he remembered seeing Shawn's bike when he arrived. His eyes widened and he looked at Shawn apologetically. "Shawn, there's something you need to see," he said very vaguely as he turned on his heels to lead Shawn outside.

The pair was barely outside for a minute before Shawn looked into the parking lot and saw the state of his motorcycle. "My bike!" he exclaimed as he took off running down the stairs.

"Shawn! Hold on!" Lassiter called after him, but it proved no luck when Shawn just continued down the stairs, skipping as many as possible.

Shawn stopped in front of the bike as he took in all the damage. He ran his hands through his hair, seeming more distraught about his bike than someone breaking into his apartment. "My bike," he mumbled sadly to himself when he bent down to inspect the tires closer. "Do you have any idea what this is going to cost me?"

Lassiter frowned at how disappointed Shawn was, but he already figured that was the reaction he'd get. He simply reached his arms out when Shawn stood back up, and pulled him into yet another hug. This time placing a kiss on the top of his head. "I'm sorry about your bike, Shawn. I'm sure the department will find a way to cover it," he suggested when he loosened his grip and let Shawn look up at him.

"Speaking of the department, aren't you going to call it in now? Good luck explaining to the chief why you entered my apartment without calling for backup first," he told the detective with a smirk as he played on the 'always follow protocol' side of Lassiter.

Lassiter's only reply was a mocking face at Shawn before he reached down into his pocket for his phone. He looked down at the screen and dialed the chief's number. As he placed the phone to his ear he leaned his head down to get one more kiss from Shawn before he had to pretend to hate him again.


	5. Making Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Intimate scene between two men up ahead. Which is kind of obvious considering the relationship I established in the beginning. If you made it to this point and are uncomfortable with two men kissing, maybe you shouldn't be here

Shawn leaned against Lassiter's car as he watched the many SBPD members enter and exit his apartment. He pulled the blanket that Lassiter wrapped around his shoulders tighter around himself, as it was a bit chilly out and he forgot to slip some pants on before he left his apartment. He let himself relax a little when he noticed Lassiter approaching him. "So how's it going, Lassie? Find anything interesting?" He questioned when he saw Lassiter did not have a joyful look on his face.

Lassiter sighed at the question and leaned against the car next to Shawn. "Nothing that will lead us to the intruder," he explained. As he crossed his arms over his chest and looked down to the ground, he contemplated on elaborating on the small information he told Shawn.

Shawn looked Lassiter up and down in confusion. He knew there was something he wasn't being told. "I sense there's a 'but' at the end of that sentence," he said without bothering to lift his hand to his head like he usually did.

Lassiter looked up to meet Shawn's gaze and sighed again. "I told the chief about your inside job theory," he mumbled without saying anything else on the matter.

Shawn felt himself light up slightly. Lassiter was finally on his side, although he didn't want to admit it. "And?" he questioned. "What did the chief say?"

"She agreed with the theory," he mumbled again, finally confessing that Shawn was most likely right.

"Now we just have to figure out who," Shawn said mostly to himself as he tried to remember even the smallest detail about whoever was in his apartment. He kept replaying the images of his door being pulled shut over and over as he looked closer. The only thing he seemed to make out was what looked like a rubber band around the suspects wrist, but that didn't lead them to anyone.

Lassiter pushed himself off the edge of the car to stand in front of Shawn. "I came by to check on you, and you seem fine, so I should really get back to doing some actual police work," he said before turning his head to look around, making sure no one was watching before he quickly leaned forward and placed a small kiss on Shawn's cheek. He stepped back and couldn't help but smile at the surprised look on his face. "You should probably call Guster or your dad, you know," he suggested with a small chuckle before he turned on his heels and made his way back to the crime scene.

Shawn watched in awe as Lassiter took off towards the crime scene. Lassiter was rarely okay with PDA, especially in a chaotic crime scene. He let a grin grow on his face at how sweet the simple action was. He knew how much out of the zone Shawn was, and he went against every gut feeling to make him more comfortable. Now that's the Lassiter he loved. Shawn felt himself freeze at his thoughts. Did he really just admit to himself that he loved Lassiter? He wasn't sure if he should be worried because it was so quick in their relationship, or just accept that sometimes life moves fast. He decided he would push his thoughts aside for the time being and take Lassiter's suggestion to call Gus. As he slid his hand down to where his phone would usually be resting in his pocket, he swore when he realized he only had his boxers on, and Lassiter had his phone.

He pushed himself off the hood of the car and pulled the blanket tighter, mostly in an attempt to hide the fact that he was only in boxers and a t-shirt. He looked in the crowd of officers, searching for Lassiter, but the tall detective was nowhere to be seen. Luckily he was able to spot Juliet amongst the crowd and decided that was his best bet. "Jules!" He called out when he got near to grab her attention.

She turned quickly and smiled slightly when she noticed who it was. "Oh, hey, Shawn. I meant to find you earlier and check up on you, but I've been too busy," she apologized to him.

Shawn simply shook his head. "Don't worry about it, I'm fine," he explained before continuing onto why he was actually seeking out her help. "I was actually wondering if you've seen Lassie around. I wanted to call Gus, but he's got my phone."

Juliet looked at him slightly confused before thinking back to when she last saw her partner. "I think he went inside your apartment, at least that's the last time I saw him," she told Shawn.

He glanced up to his apartment door, which was currently blocked off by yellow crime scene tape. "Thanks, Jules," he said graciously before he made his way towards the stairs that led to the second floor.

When he approached the staircase he took them one at a time, unlike earlier when he nearly tripped while he panicked about his bike. He reached the second floor shortly and stopped when he was a step away from the yellow tape. He contemplated for a second if he should even go into his apartment, but he figured since it was his apartment and he was technically a member of the SBPD, then he should be granted access. He carefully ducked under the tape and took a cautious step inside his apartment. He didn't dare turn his head towards the door, he simply walked into the living room and looked for Lassiter. After a few moments of searching he spotted the familiar salt and pepper hair down the hallway towards the bathroom, where Shawn recalled he hid after he saw the suspect leave.

"Lassie!" Shawn called out as he waved his hand in the air waiting for Lassiter to turn around. He had to call his name three more times before Lassiter acknowledged Shawn's presence and turned to leave the hallway.

"What are you doing in here, Spencer?" he asked in his usual detective tone without letting Shawn actually explain himself. "I thought I told you to wait outside."

Shawn fought the urge to roll his eyes at how quickly Lassiter was able to go back to his old self, to not fool anyone. "Well, I was going to take your suggestion to call Gus, but you still have my phone," he reminded the detective.

Lassiter raised his eyebrows at the accusation as he reached inside his pocket. He closed his hands around the phone and handed it over to Shawn. "Sorry, thought I gave that back," he apologized, before he realized he never apologized to Shawn, and he hoped no one was listening. "Is there anything else you need, Spencer? Or can you so kindly get out of our way."

"Well, as long as you're offering," Shawn started with a smirk, and Lassiter wasn't sure where this conversation was going. "Is it possible for me to get a pair of pants? It's chilly out and I don't want everyone staring," he admitted.

Lassiter laughed when Shawn asked for a pair of pants. He half expected him to ask for a kiss or some other sort of PDA that would've let everyone in on the relationship. "Yeah of course. Let me get all the officers out of your room," he agreed before he turned to clear everyone out of Shawn's room.

Once everyone was out of Shawn's bedroom, Lassiter waved his hand to call Shawn over. He pushed the door shut behind them as he made sure no one was suspicious of them being in the bedroom together. "Legally I have to make sure you don't disturb any evidence while you're in here," he said when he turned back around to face Shawn.

Shawn smirked at the response and raised an eyebrow. "Is that the only reason, Detective?" He questioned as he dropped the blanket that was wrapped around his shoulders to the ground.

"Well," Lassiter started as he pushed himself off the wall and stepped closer to Shawn. "I was hoping to somehow make it up to you about me not staying over."

"I wouldn't mind," Shawn smirked again and reached for Lassiter's hand to pull him closer.

When Lassiter was pulled towards Shawn, he put his hands on the shorter man's hips and looked down at him. "I can't be gone for too long, so I was thinking this would suffice," he said quietly as he leaned his head down and gave Shawn a delicate kiss.

Shawn slid his eyes shut and reached his hand up to cup Lassiter's cheek. He leaned against Lassiter, needing to be closer. It had been a couple weeks since Shawn had been this close to him, and he was determined to make it last. He slid his other hand up into Lassiter's hair, and tangled his fingers in the crazy bedhead that he never bothered brushing out. Shawn felt himself shiver when Lassiter slid his hands under his plain white t-shirt, but soon enough the coldness was replaced with a warmth Shawn melted into Lassiter for.

Lassiter never got used to kissing Shawn. Every time there was such a rush, and it was almost as if his lips were addicting. He pulled his hands out from under Shawn's shirt and placed them back on his hips where they originated. With just a slight force he pushed Shawn back, without breaking the connection, and he bumped into the wall with a slight _thud_. He moved his hands to the side of Shawn's head against the wall to brace himself.

Although the pair wanted to make their quick fling last as long as possible, their bodies had other functions that were behind ignored. Lassiter was the first to pull away and suck in a deep breath. He leaned his head down and rested his forehead on Shawn's as the both caught their breaths. "That'll do," Shawn said quietly in between breaths. "For now," he finished with his signature smirk.

Lassiter chuckled at the comment and nodded his head in agreement. "Whatever you say, Shawn." He pushed himself off the wall and attempted to fix his hair, which was now sticking straight up in some places thanks to Shawn. "I should get back out there, and you should put on the pants you came in here for."

Shawn straightened out his shirt and stepped over to his closet. He grabbed the first pair of jeans he saw and slipped them over his legs, pushing the metal button through the hole when they were at his waist. He walked back up to Lassiter and stepped on his tiptoes to place another quick kiss on his lips. "We'll finish that later," he said with a wink before walking out of the bedroom, leaving Lassiter alone.


	6. Let's Review

The station was eerily quiet, and Shawn hated it. He couldn't recall one time he was ever at the station this early. Sure his apartment had never been broken into before now, but nonetheless, he usually arrived at the station no earlier than noon when everyone else had already started their shifts. Currently it was only a little past six o'clock in the morning and after the events that unfolded hours prior, Shawn was dead tired. He put his hand over his mouth and did his best to cover a yawn. He knew his attempt to hide his yawn had failed when he caught Lassiter yawn slightly. Shawn took that as an invitation to visit, and he beelined to Lassiter's desk with two cups of coffee in his hands.

"You look like you could use a pick me up," Shawn smiled as he stuck his hand out, offering the detective the warm cup of coffee.

Lassiter looked up when Shawn approached and did his best not to lick his lips. Coffee sounded like the answer to all his problems and he gratefully reached up and took the cup from Shawn's hand. He mumbled a small, "Thanks," before he carefully took a small sip.

Shawn looked turned to look behind him as he grabbed an empty chair and pulled it up next to where Lassiter was sitting. "So anything new? You look like you're hard at work," Shawn pointed out as he too carefully took a sip of his coffee.

Lassiter glanced down to his desk and back up to Shawn. "Well, I was trying to do something before you interrupted." He leaned forward just slightly and lowered his voice to a level only Shawn could hear within the station. "I'm trying to figure out how to break it to O'Hara that you, in fact, do not have a new girlfriend."

Shawn felt his cheeks go red at the statement and he tried to hide behind his coffee cup. "Yeah, about that," he began explaining. "Gus may have mentioned I was dating someone and she was within earshot. It was all her though. She assumed I had a girlfriend. I didn't say anything."

Lassiter chuckled and leaned back into his chair, getting more comfortable. Two police officers just walked down the stairs towards the evidence locker, leaving Shawn and Lassiter alone in the bullpen. " She brought it up when we left the laundromat yesterday," he informed Shawn as he sat his coffee down on his desk to cool. "Now I have to figure out how and when to tell her."

Shawn couldn't help but yawn again and stretch his arms out. The coffee he grabbed wasn't kicking in yet and he could feel himself starting to drift off. "You do that, Lassie," he mumbled as he propped his legs up on the edge of Lassiter's desk and leaned his head against the back of his chair. He slid his eyes shut and figured he could get a little more sleep in before more people started showing up.

* * *

 

Shawn scrunched his eyes at the loud chatter he was now aware of, and attempted to roll over. He quickly realized this was a bad idea when instead of moving over slightly in bed, he ended up on the floor. He groaned in pain as he opened his eyes and pushed himself into a sitting position on the tile floor.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Lassiter called out sarcastically to him when he finally woke up. "Now that you're up, maybe we can get back to work."

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Shawn mumbled in reply as he pushed himself off the floor, back into the chair he fell out of.

Lassiter handed Shawn a case file when he finally situated himself, and flipped his own file open. "Alright, let's go over everything we know so far," Lassiter addressed to the group that consisted of himself, Shawn, Juliet, and Gus. "We know the Cinco Reyes are creating and administering an experimental drug to the public."

"Nathaniel Parker, a 19 year old student at Santa Barbara City College, was found dead in his dorm after taking the drug," Juliet chimed in without looking for the details in the case file.

Shawn nodded his head in remembering the crime scene. It was a very unfortunate death. Nathan was a good student. He had A's in all of his classes, and he had never gotten in trouble ever before. Him being such a good kid was the first tip of the the department that there was more to this case than a college student overdosing. Shawn was brought out of his thoughts and back to the conversation by the mention of his apartment. He sat up straighter in his chair and cleared his throat. "Yeah, this morning an unknown assailant broke into my apartment after destroying my bike," he recalled the events.

Lassiter glanced back down to the case file and sighed. "Back off. That was the message left behind by the intruder," he informed the rest of the group, although they were all well aware of what the message said. "This leads us to believe that there's someone on the inside," he admitted to agreeing with Shawn's theory.

"Just think about it. The second we show up to a lab, the Cinco Reyes is gone. Without someone tipping them off, how would they know?" Shawn questioned the group as he explained his thoughts. "As much as I hate to say it, but I'm getting serious vibes that it's someone on the inside."

Juliet nodded her head and looked down in thought. "That makes sense. Now we just have to figure out who," she muttered to herself.

"It's probably someone who has nothing to lose. Single, most likely, and keeps to himself most of the time," Shawn theorized to the group as he thought through the members of the SPBD. "They have to be listed on this case, but that doesn't narrow it down any since half of the department is on the case."

Lassiter rubbed his temples in frustration. "Spencer, are you sure you weren't able to see anymore of the intruder? Or can you sense anything?" Lassiter asked, still disbelieving on his psychic abilities.

Shawn stared down to the floor as he replayed last night in his mind. He was walking down the hallway with his phone clutched tightly to his ear, watching where he stepped carefully. Slowly he peeked his head around the corner and managed to watch the intruder pull the door shut on his way out. Shawn squinted eyes to concentrate harder as he slowed the images in his head down and replayed them again. When his gaze turned the corner he focused on the door shutting. At a closer glance he noticed the suspect had a rubber band around his wrist. He sighed in disappointment when he looked back up to the group, who were all staring at him with what looked like concern in their eyes. "The only thing I can recall is a rubber band around the guy's wrist. And can you all stop staring? It's freaking me out," he informed them.

"A rubber band? Great lead, Spencer. That's sure to help," Lassiter sarcastically grumbled as he looked down to the casefile per Shawn's request.

"Well I'm sorry I was trying to listen to instructions and not get killed," Shawn lowered his voice as he argued.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shawn could see that Juliet was very confused by his last statement. "Following instructions? Did the intruder say something to you?" She seemed shocked that he would keep valuable information from them.

Shawn shook his head as Lassiter rolled his eyes. "No," he said simply before elaborating. "I called Lassie when it first happened," at another look of confusion from Juliet, he explained further. "I have his number memorized for prank calls, so it was the quickest option," he lied. "But anyway, once I told him what was happening, he told me to stay back. So I did."

The group grew silent after the small argument between Shawn and Lassiter. The silence only lasted a few minutes before a grumbling sound brought them back to reality.

"Sorry, I haven't eaten anything all day," Shawn apologised for the interrupting sound. "Why don't we all take a well deserved lunch break?"

Lassiter shot Shawn a glare. He knew what he was up to. As much as he was against the idea of telling Juliet about their relationship, it would add more time when he didn't have to be a dick to Shawn. "I'm in," he said as tapped his desk and stood up from his chair, while he reached for his suit jacket.

Juliet turned to Gus as she was getting her things together. "I could go for some food right now. What about you, Gus?"

He simply nodded his head in his agreement and addressed the rest of the group. "Sounds like a plan."

Shawn mentally patted himself on the back for his job well done. Not only did he score free food, but he also found time to force Lassiter into telling Juliet about them. "Gus, buddy, if you don't mind, I think I'm gonna ride with Lassie. I have some things to talk about," he explained himself vaguely. "Why don't you take Juliet?" He suggested when she gave him a weird look. She quickly accepted the offer, and whatever she was thinking about Shawn going with Lassiter flew right out of her mind. She happily followed Gus out of the station, with the other two not far behind.

Shawn jumped into the passenger seat of Lassiter's car, and rested his leg on the dashboard to mess with the detective. "Foot down," was all Lassiter said when he plopped himself down into the driver's seat and turned on the engine. He pulled the car onto the main road in the direction of the restaurant and Shawn watched as a police cruiser pulled out into the same direction as them. He figured it was just a cop doing his daily drive around town, and he focused his attention back to where they were headed.

"You're really going to make me tell her aren't you?" Lassiter muttered without taking his eyes off the road.

"Well, of course," he trailed off as he continued to watch the police cruiser catch up to them. Something inside of him was telling him that this was not your usual cruiser. "Uh, Lassie? I think we're being followed."

Lassiter raised an eyebrow before he looked into the rearview mirror. He scoffed when he turned his attention back to the road. "We're heading into town, Shawn. Of course it's going to look like the police is following us."

He shook his head and raised his hand to his temple. "I'm telling you, Lassie. Something isn't right with that car," he urged as the car got into the lane next to them and sped up. He watched in slow motion as the car suddenly jerked to the right, bumping the side of their car. Before he knew it Lassiter had tried to swerve away from any further collisions. Unfortunately for the pair, they came to a crashing halt at the base of a telephone pole.

Shawn ignored the pain in his body as he slowly opened his eyes to assess the situation. Carefully he turned his head to the left to see what condition Lassiter was in. What he wasn't expecting to see was someone opening the car door and attempting to pull him out of the vehicle. Fear and worry ran through his mind at the sight of Lassiter's lifeless form being lifted out and away. In a panic Shawn reached his hand down to unlatch the seat belt that was currently holding him back to the seat with no room to maneuver himself. His heart began to race faster than it already was when the seat belt wouldn't give way. Shawn was stuck to the seat, with Lassiter slowly getting further away, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He continued to pull on the seat belt in hopes of it pulling loose, but nothing was working. He let his body fall limp as it was starting to ache with every movement. Slowly he let his eyes drift shut, hoping to alleviate the pressure in his head. The last thing Shawn saw before he gave into his body's pleas of unconsciousness was the damaged police cruiser drive off, with Lassiter presumably inside.


	7. The Last Person He Wanted to See

Shawn was tired. Extremely tired. He didn't know where he was or what happened, but he didn't care. He just wanted to roll over and sleep. At that thought, he was suddenly aware of the pain. His chest stung, his arm throbbed, and his head was pounding. Maybe if he focused harder on sleeping, the pain would go away. As he scrunched his eyes tight in an attempted to ignore what sounded like someone banging on a drum inside his head, he heard someone speak up. "Shawn?" The voice called out. As much as Shawn wanted his pain to go away, he also wanted to zone everything around him out, and get some more rest. Although Shawn just wanted to ignore the world, the tone of whoever called his name was pulling at his gut. He wondered who it could be and/or why they would be upset. He did his best to think back to what was the last thing he remembered. Shawn could see the four of them sitting inside the police station going over the case file. He remembered speaking up and suggesting lunch. The group had decided on a small restaurant within town and they headed outside. Shawn climbed into Lassiter's car and they pulled out of the parking lot. He watched a cruiser pull out right behind them and everything started to get fuzzy. Something was off about that car, and something was missing. Shawn felt his world come crashing down at his realization of what had happened. Lassiter was kidnapped.

Juliet watched, with tears in her eyes as Shawn struggled. She wasn't exactly sure what was causing his struggle, whether it was pain or the accident, it just hurt her to watch him like that. She could hear the heart monitor beeping at his elevated heart rate, and she watched his breathing speed up. "Shawn, if you can hear me you need to calm down. Just open your eyes and look at me, please?"

Begrudgingly Shawn slowly opened his eyes, giving them time to adjust to the brightness of the room. Once he finally managed to filter out the light, he glanced around at his surroundings. He, of course, was lying in a hospital bed in the middle of the a white room. The room had its signature disinfectant smell and he scrunched his nose, he hated that smell. He looked down to his side and noticed his arm was encased in a plain white cast. When his gaze met Juliet's, she looked relieved to see him finally awake. "Shawn, you were in an accident. Do you remember it?"

Shawn looked down to his lap in thought. Yes, he remembered most of the accident, the important parts. The police cruiser and Lassiter being taken were the clearest in his memory and that's all he needed. Without looking up, he spoke quietly. "Where's Lassie?" He asked, with little hope of him being safe. He listened carefully as Juliet's breath hitched at the sudden question.

"He's.. He's missing, Shawn," she answered as she lowered herself down into the chair next to the bed, in fear of her legs giving out under her.

Shawn clamped his eyes shut and used the edge of his blanket as a sort of stress ball. It actually happened. Lassiter, his Lassiter, was taken from him right in front of his eyes, and he wasn't able to do anything about it. When he reopened his eyes he found it hard to see through the tears building up. "It's all my fault," he mumbled to himself, although he was a little too loud and Juliet was up and by his side in an instant.

"You can't blame yourself, Shawn. Whoever hit you had the intention of taking Lassiter no matter what. Anything you would've done would've ended the same," she attempted to reassure him, but it just made Shawn feel worse about his actions at the time.

The anger mixed with fear and worry was building in Shawn and he couldn't hold it back. As much as he hated letting his mask slip, and allowing everyone to see his emotions, he had to let this out. He looked up and met Juliet's gaze, just barely able to make out her features through the tears in his eyes that had yet to fall. "You don't understand!" He shouted louder than he wanted to. Shock registered on Juliet's face at the sudden outburst, but it was quickly followed by confusion. Shawn shook his head and cursed at himself mentally. He almost let it slip about their relationship, and now he had to explain himself somehow. "I should've, could've, done more to alert Lassie of the cruiser. But he wouldn't listen to me Jules. He wouldn't listen," he babbled to her through the tears that were now streaming down his face.

Whatever Juliet was thinking about the outburst had left her mind and she squinted at Shawn. "What do you mean, 'cruiser', Shawn?" She asked, concerned with the new bit of information.

Shawn looked up with an eyebrow raised. They didn't know it was a police officer or detective who caused them to crash? He mentally cursed at himself again for now letting slip the only leverage he had over the department. He reached his free hand up to his face and wiped away the tears that had fallen. "You didn't know?" He questioned and continued his explanation when she didn't change her glare. "A police cruiser followed us out of the parking lot of the station and swerved into the side of us. I tried to warn Lassie, but it was too late.." he trailed off.

Juliet reached into her pant pocket and pulled out her cellphone, "Sorry, Shawn. I have to talk to the chief," she said to Shawn's general area without looking up from her phone screen. "I'll send in the next visitor.

He glanced back down the his lap and fiddled with the edge of his blanket. As much as he understood Juliet's need to tell the chief the major break in the case, he truly wished she would've stayed with him, even if she didn't know the truth behind him and Lassiter. Any other thoughts of the matter were interrupted by a slight knock at the door and Shawn perked his head up. Almost as soon as his head was up, he lowered it again and frowned. "What do you want? Here to yell at me for not stopping the crash? For getting Lassie kidnapped?" He mumbled without looking at whoever was still standing in the doorway.

The figure in the doorway scoffed and took a few steps towards Shawn. "I was actually here to check see how my son is doing after being in a crash, but you're clearly fine so I'll just be on my way now," Henry grumbled as he turned on his heels to face the door he came through just seconds ago.

Shawn quickly glanced back up to where Henry was standing. The two of them may never have had the closest of relationships, but at this point Shawn was just desperate for someone he could talk to without feeling ashamed for dating Lassiter. "Wait," he surprisingly called out, and Henry turned his head back around look at his son. "There's something I have to tell you.."

Henry crossed over to Shawn's bed, and dropped himself into the small plastic chair next to the edge. When the two made eye contact, Henry could see just how much of a toll this case, or just the accident, was taking on him. He looked beat down, and whether it was just the accident, there was something under the surface that Shawn was holding back, and Henry had a clue to what it was. Without hesitation or waiting for Shawn to gain the strength and/or courage to say what he wanted to, Henry blurted it out first, "You're dating detective Lassiter."

A mixture of shock and surprise registered on Shawn's face, clear from the raised eyebrows, wide eyes, and jaw slightly slack. "Wh-what? How did you know?" he stumbled the question out, still trying to come to terms with what just happened.

"A father knows, Shawn," Henry answered simply. When Shawn's face remained the same, he rolled his eyes and elaborated. "I've seen the way you look at him. And how you make it your goal to annoy him at crime scenes? Dead giveaway," he paused to think of more examples. "When your apartment was broken into you called him first, when both Gus and I live closer to you than he does."

Shawn closed his mouth and lowered his gaze. If it was that easy for him to figure out, he wondered how many people in the department also figured it out. "You don't care?" he asked, puzzled at the calm reaction to the subject.

Henry crossed his leg over his other, attempting to get comfortable, and watched his son go from shock to fear. "I care that you're happy. And if Lassiter makes you happy, then that's fine with me. But remind me, I need to have a serious talk with him once you find him."

It was almost as if Shawn had forgotten that Lassiter was missing, and Henry's last threat was enough to make him determined to find him. Without saying anything he pulled his IV out of his left hand, with a small sting. Henry sat up, more alert of the situation, but didn't do anything to stop him from what he was doing. Once the IV was out of Shawn's hand, he sat up and carefully placed his feet on the floor. Without anymore hesitation he pushed himself off the bed, using one hand to balance himself. His legs felt like they usually felt after watching a TV marathon, like jelly. After he got the blood flowing normally to his legs again, he pulled the heart monitor off his finger and made his way towards a cupboard. His clothes had to be in here somewhere. He slammed the cupboard door shut and groaned when his search came up empty. They'd really gotten rid of his clothes. And he was wearing his favorite shirt earlier.

"I figured you'd do something like this, so I came prepared," Henry called out and held up a small bag with a pair of jeans sticking out.

Shawn was surprised. He figured his father would've tried to convince him to stay in the hospital until he was released, but aside from a broken arm and throbbing in his head, Shawn felt fine and he needed to get back out there on the search for his boyfriend. He grabbed the bag of clothes from Henry and took it into the small bathroom connected to his hospital room.

Unfortunately for Shawn, he was down to one hand. And just his luck that it's his left hand. After a few minutes of struggle in pulling his jeans up, he managed to slip his shirt on over his cast. Out of habit he reached into his pockets for his keys before he realized he probably arrived here via ambulance and therefor had no ride to the station. He slowly peeked his head around the bathroom door and looked at his dad. "Can I, uh, get a ride?"

Henry looked up and rolled his eyes. He knew that was coming. "Yeah, let's go," he said simply as he grabbed his own keys out of his pocket. "Oh, Juliet handed me this as she left," he mentioned as he handed Shawn his phone.

Shawn frowned at the sight. The glass screen was shattered. Luckily only the top half had cracked and he could still make out the bottom half. He unlocked the phone and opened up his messages. Meet me at the station. Bring food. He typed into the screen and hit send. He sure hoped Gus would pay special attention to the latter, as Shawn was starving.

Shawn watched the ground as the two of them made their way out of the hospital. He would never show it, but he was truly scared for Lassiter. There was no way of telling what the Cinco Reyes would do to him, and Shawn wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to the Detective. All he could do at this point was hope they find the mole, and quickly for that matter, before anything serious can happen to Lassiter.


	8. 24 Hours Later

Both Juliet and the Chief didn't believe that Shawn was fit to return to work so soon. He shook his head vigorously at their comments, which he quickly discovered was a bad idea as he got dizzy and had to casually grab the back of a chair to keep from losing his balance. "See, Shawn? You have a concussion. You should be at home resting. You know what? You should actually should still be in the hospital," Juliet countered his argument with some hard evidence that he wasn't ready to be back at the station yet.

The two of them were just trying to look out for Shawn, and he understood that, but they didn't understand the deeper connection he had with this case. "Sure. Sure I have a concussion, but that's never stopped me before, has it?" He questioned the two of them, his temper quickly growing. "I can't find it in me to sit on my ass, whether it's in the hospital, or at my apartment, doing nothing, while Lassie is who knows where with the most dangerous street gang in the city!" Shawn surprised himself with his own outburst. He took a deep breath, dropped himself into the chair he was leaning on, and let his head hang down before he glanced back up and pleaded with the chief. "I'm begging you, chief. Please let me look for Lassie."

The chief looked at the psychic carefully. He seemed to have a different spark of determination connected to this case. She wasn't sure if it was just because of the disappearance of their head detective or something else, but if she was being completely honest with herself, she didn't care. "Fine, Mr. Spencer," she finally agreed with his pleas. "I am only allowing this because I know that you would go off and try to find him on your own, and this station cannot afford to lose their head detective and psychic on one case."

Shawn felt himself light up immediately at the chief's permission. "What all do you have so far?" He questioned as he stood up carefully.

The chief glanced down to the new additions to the case file since the accident. "Well, as you all know, the first 24 hours are the most crucial, and we just passed that," she began to explain, but got cut off by a very confused Shawn.

"Woah, woah, woah!" He exclaimed suddenly. "It's already been 24 hours? I was out for that long?" He had only expected to have been out for maybe a couple hours at the most, not miss a full day. That only meant that there was more time for the kidnapper to get farther away with Lassiter, and Shawn feared he would never see the other man again.

"Your concussion is on the verge of severe, Shawn. Your body needed rest," Juliet started explaining but fell silent when Shawn went back to the original topic without really acknowledging her.

"Did you get anything on the cruiser? The one that crashed into us?" He specified for the two standing in front of him.

The chief looked down to the case file and flipped a single sheet of paper over. "The car was scheduled to Officer Bryson Pratt, although he was checked in to the file room at the time of the accident."

Shawn cursed in frustration. How is it that someone can get in a cruiser when it's not scheduled to them, and get away with it? They had to have been missing something. "Has everyone been accounted for?"

"As much as I hate to say it, everyone has alibis. We have nothing to go off of," Juliet said and watched as Shawn slouched more noticeably in his chair.

Shawn felt like his world was falling apart. His apartment was broken into, he'd been in a car accident, and he lost his boyfriend all within 48 hours. And now it seemed that the police department he's devoted all his time to was doing nothing in an attempt to locate their missing head detective. "There has to be something we're missing," Shawn suddenly chimed in after moments of an eery silence. "And I don't know about you guys, but I am going to get out there and actually look for Lassie." Before either of the two women in the office with Shawn were able to say something, he was up and out the door.

Much to his surprise, Gus was waiting just outside of the chief's office. He took one look at the clear frustration on Shawn's face and he frowned. "It didn't go very well did it?" He asked although he already kne the answer.

"They have nothing, Gus," Shawn explained to his best friend. "Somehow everyone has an alibi." Shawn sighed in annoyance and dropped himself down into a bench in front of the chief's office. From there he looked up and was able to see Lassiter's desk, though he couldn't bring himself to go over there. Instead he simply pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at his home screen through the cracked glass. It was a simple picture Shawn had taken of himself kissing Lassiter's forehead after he had fallen asleep just a few weeks prior. He felt himself smile slightly at the memory, but it was cut short when he noticed Gus had been trying to get his attention. "Sorry, what?"

Gus did his best to avoid rolling his eyes at the delayed reaction Shawn had. "As I was trying to say, why don't we double check the alibi's? I'm sure you'd be able to find something the chief and Juliet wouldn't have been able to," he suggested. He knew that Shawn needed to keep himself focused on working the case otherwise he'd fall into a deep hole that would be nearly impossible to get him out of.

Shawn glanced back up to Gus at the suggestion. "That sounds like a great idea, buddy!" Suddenly Shawn jumped up from the bench with a new pep in his step. If you hadn't known what had happened, you would probably think nothing was out of the ordinary. "Where should we start?"

Gus looked down to the floor in thought before he glanced back up with an idea. "Since most of the department is currently on the case, is there anyone that sticks out to you?"

Shawn thought about what Gus asked and he suddenly reached into his pocket. He pulled out a folded up piece of paper. After taking a quick second to unfold it, he held it up for Gus to see. "I snatched this on my way out. It's the list of alibi's," he explained.

Gus reached his hand out to take the single sheet of paper from Shawn and look at it carefully. He scanned through the list and looked back up. "Well everyone on here was present at the time the cruiser left, except for two people. Detective Lance Davidson was attending his weekly anger management class, and Officer Preston Webster called in sick," he read off the sheet.

"Looks like we had better pay a visit to our good friend Webster," Shawn stated as he pushed himself up from the bench.

"Shawn, Officer Webster hates you," Gus reminded his best friend. He rolled his eyes at the lack of remembrance on Shawn's face. "You outed him for cheating and he's had it out for you ever since."

Shawn raised his eyebrows at the mention of what he did. "You're right, buddy. But you know what that means? He has motive," Shawn smirked.

It took Gus a few moments to consider what they were going to do before he gave in and agreed. "Fine, Shawn. Let's just try not to get killed."

The smirk on Shawn's face widened. "You know me, Gus. I can't make any promises," he teased before quickly taking off down the hall, getting as far away from Gus as possible.

* * *

 

The air that surrounded him was pungent. Almost so strong it hurt his nose to breathe, though he wasn't doing that very well anyway. His chest felt heavy, as if someone was sitting on him. He struggled with every breath, but that wasn't the worst of his problems. Without attempting to look at the condition of his leg, he could tell it was bad. The pain wasn't unbearable, mainly a dull throbbing sensation from his ankle to his knee. His main concern was the blood. The sticky substance was pooled underneath him. He finally gave in with his inner pleas and opened his eyes. Refusing to look down towards his leg, he glanced up and the ceiling and grimaced. A warehouse, he thought to himself. One of hundreds in Santa Barbara.

After a few moments of taking in his surroundings, he slowly pushed himself up into the best seated position he could manage. He stretched his arms out behind him to keep himself upright. Glancing around he noticed there was one door leading to the room he was in, and it didn't have a door handle on the inside. He began brainstorming how he would get through the one sided door, but the throbbing in his leg deepened and he brought his focus back to that.

It wasn't until this moment that he finally gave in and looked down to his leg. He grimaced the second he did so. Even though it was very dark, he was still able to tell that it was broken. He wasn't able to see exactly where the blood was coming from, as his pant leg was still intact, covering his leg.

He noticed he was thinking about the worst possible conditions his leg could be in, and he started to get light headed. Head Detective Carlton Lassiter was not one to show any sort of fear in the face of danger, but in this situation he was scared out of his mind. He couldn't decide is the thought that scared him the most was his leg's condition, or the thought of not making it out. He couldn't begin to imagine what the people in his life were going through right now, and the person who he thought about the most was Shawn. The two of them had just gotten together and Lassiter wondered how Shawn was handling the situation. Shawn was known to take certain cases personally if it was connected to him, and he would throw all precaution to the wind.

Lassiter was brought back to reality when the door suddenly jerked forward. He held his breath and watched as someone took a small step into the room. The figure hadn't stepped far enough into the room for the light to hit their face, and Lassiter couldn't make out who it was.

"Lassiter, Lassiter, Lassiter," the shadowed figure tsked slowly without moving any further into the room. Lassiter wracked his brain to put the familiar voice to a face but he couldn't get his thoughts to process correctly. The only thing he was certain of was the person was a male.

He attempted to clear his throat before he responded. "What do you want?" He croaked out, trying to ignore the voice crack that occurred halfway through.

The figure chuckled slightly at Lassiter as he leaned back against the wall. "Well, you see, Detective. It's quite simple actually," he started explaining himself. "You were getting too close to figuring me out. I had to do something to slow the department down. And you should be glad we didn't touch that little psychic of yours," he smirked evilly.

Lassiter felt his anger rise at the mention of Shawn. "Don't you dare touch him," he growled to the man who was being a coward and hiding himself. The mystery man took a small step forward, allowing the light to let his lower legs be seen. Lassiter glanced down and was surprised to see a pristine pair of dress shoes and black slacks. A detective? He thought to himself as he took in the limited appearance.

"I figured you'd say something like that. Considering your relationship with said psychic," he teased the head detective.

Never in his entire life had Lassiter ever felt this mix of emotions before. Not only was he scared out of his life, now he was shocked and confused. He let his jaw go slack at the revelation and he just stared in the direction of the attacker. "H-h-how?" He barely managed to squeak out.

"Well, it wasn't that hard to figure out. All those times you let your mask slip because you think you were alone? Should've double checked." He took two more steps forward, this time only his head was hidden in the shadows. "But the most damning piece of evidence, I must say, was when you kissed him after I broke into his apartment."

Lassiter wanted so badly to just get up and sprint out that open door, but the best he could do was scoot back slightly. Even that was very minimal due to every movement causing more pain to shoot down his leg. All he did in this moment was pray to some unknown entity in the sky that this man would not go back to the department and take it out on Shawn.

"I suppose, there's only one thing left for me to do." Lassiter simply continued to stare down the figure who was slowly leaning closer to him as he continued to pray. "Is watch your career crumble when I let the department know."

Internally Lassiter let out a sigh of relief. The whole department knowing about their relationship wouldn't be that bad, considering they were planning on making it public at some point. He was simply glad that whoever this man was, wasn't planning on hurting Shawn anytime soon.

The man brought his wrist up to his face and glanced down at it. "Well, it would appear I must be off now," he stated calmly as he began to squat down to Lassiter's level. "After all, I am late for a very important meeting."

"No.." was all Lassiter could manage to get out of his mouth. Suddenly the voice became clear and Lassiter's theory was proven correct when his attacker bent down and his face was now visible. It baffled him how someone who seemed so innocent, so determined to follow in his footsteps would be held capable of working with the most dangerous street gang in town, and capturing the SBPD's head detective. "Davidson, why?"

"I'd love to stay and chat, Detective. But as you know, the chief will suspend me if I miss any of my anger management classes." Of course Lassiter knew this. After all it was him who decided on the punishment. After his little incident the chief wanted to suspend him, but Lassiter saw potential in the younger man. He was the one who suggested the idea of anger classes in place of the month's suspension. And now he felt like it was his fault for being in this position.

So many thoughts were flooding his brain, making it hard to focus on what was going on in front of him. And he regretted that the second the hit came. Davidson had punched him square in the temple. As much as Lassiter hated to admit it, but he had been hit harder than what Davidson had just done. But then again in those situations he wasn't in a previous car accident with a concussion already present, nor had he ever had any other big injuries such as his leg this time. Nonetheless, Lassiter was actually glad to let himself fall into the darkness and ignore everything that he just went through.


	9. Only One Man Left

Shawn crossed his arms over his chest in a huff as he stared out the window. The sick rookie lead, Officer Preston Webster, was a dead end. Unfortunately the man was actually sick, and it wasn't the prettiest of was vaguely aware of his best friend talking to him as he was more interested in looking out the small window. "I can't believe you wasted all that time, Shawn." The statement registered in his head and he only felt the slightest bit guilty for insisting the pair stair longer to see if the officer was truly sick or not. Long story short the second round of vomiting was the tipping point on the truth scale and the two made their exit quickly.

He pushed the events of the past hour out of his head and focused on the man sitting next to him, staring at him, actually. "Did you hear a word I just said, Shawn?"

Shawn looked away slightly and watched the street signs fly by the tiny blue car in an attempt to avoid his best friend's glare. "I was too busy thinking about our next approach to Detective Davidson, since he's the only suspect left," he quickly countered.

Gus tried hard to avoid rolling his eyes at the comment from his stubborn friend. "Well, if you would have listened to me, you would've known that I suggested we have a quick word with him at the station."

"What time was Davidson's anger management class?" Shawn asked suddenly, changing the topic of their conversation.

Gus faltered slightly as he recalled the information from the alibi paper. "From 2-3pm, I believe," he answered and watched the gears turn in Shawn's head at the new information. "Why?"

Shawn did a mental rerun of the timeline the day of the accident. The group was going over the case file for the majority of the day. After spending the day busy with the reports, they decided to take a small break and get some lunch. He glanced at the time on the clock by the station doors. 1:25pm. The accident occurred only a few minutes down the road, around 1:27pm. "If it was Davidson, he would've had exactly 33 minutes to take Lassie somewhere before making it ontime to his appointment," he explained. "We need to talk to the chief first."

* * *

 

Shawn forcefully pushed the door open to the chief's office, ignoring the sudden protests that came from the few people inside the room. He placed his index finger against his temple in his signature psychic position, not bothering with making a fool out of himself for dramatic effect, "Chief, I'm sensing a small flaw in the list of alibis."

A flaw might not have been the best word of choice Shawn could've used to describe the situation, as proven by the look of offense on the chiefs face. "Are you suggesting I was wrong, Mr. Spencer?" She asked through clenched teeth as she slowly rose from her seated position.

Immediately Shawn took up a defensive position with his hands raised slightly and one foot behind him for an easy escape if need be. "No, no, no. Of course not, Chief. It was a great list. Loved it as a matter of fact," he babbled.

The glare he was receiving from the Chief was enough for Shawn to regret everything he said. She didn't have to say anything, but Shawn knew he had to knock some sense into himself and say what he was meaning to. "What I mean, Chief, is that there was a small window of opportunity for Detective Davidson." He paused slightly as he watched the chiefs expression change from anger to shock. "I was just wondering if I could have a quick word with the detective."

The Chief returned herself to her seat and forced the emotion from her face like she usually did. "Of course. Just be careful, please," she advised Shawn before he turned on his heels and left the office.

Once out of the smaller room, Shawn immediately changed his course to where Detective Davidson would be found. "I'll take this sudden determination as a she said okay," his best friend Gus said when he managed to catch up to Shawn's pace.

"Why wouldn't she?" Shawn questioned without turning to look at his friend. "I have my ways, Gus.

Shawn felt his heart rate increase at the sight of Davidson exiting the file room and heading towards them. There he was. The only man capable of turning his back on the force. He looked up from the file he was holding and glanced at the pair. Shawn just barely noticed the smirk the detective was trying to hide. "Detective Davidson, a word please," Shawn stated sternly as he grabbed the detective's arm and led him back down the hall to the interrogation rooms.

The detective made no attempt to break from Shawn's death grip at any point during the short walk to an empty interrogation room. "Look, psychic," he spat at Shawn once alone in the room. "I don't appreciate having my time wasted. I have big boy work to do."

"Cut the crap, Davidson," Shawn said abruptly and the taller man was taken aback at the sudden shift in attitude. "I need to know exactly where you were at 1:30pm yesterday."

Davidson rolled his eyes at the accusation. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the brick wall before giving Shawn the information needed. "I was on my way to my mandatory anger management class. You can check the logs, I was there on time."

"And what route did you take to the class?" Shawn questioned. He gave himself a mental pat on the back when Davidson's eyes widened for a second before he regained his composure.

The detective ignored the question as he pushed himself off the wall and headed for the door to leave. "I don't have to sit here and listen anything you have to say," he growled.

His path to the door was blocked when Shawn stepped in front of him. "Surely if you're innocent, you wouldn't mind telling me the route you took," Shawn insisted with a slight smirk, knowing he'd hit a nerve with the detective.

Something inside Davidson snapped and he reached forward to grab handfuls of Shawn's shirt and shove him against the door he was just blocking. Shawn's breath hitched at the sudden impact against the metal door. "Listen here, psychic," he spat once again. "I know what's going on between you and detective Lassiter and I do not approve of it. If you don't back off, I will make your life a living hell."

Shawn felt the tips of his ears start to go red. He wasn't sure what he was more afraid of. Davidson knowing about the secret relationship, or the fact that he most likely kidnapped Lassiter and was now able to do whatever he wanted to the head detective. "I-I don't know what you're talking about," Shawn stuttered as he tried to lie his way out like he always did.

"For you considering yourself psychic, you never seem to notice when you're not actually alone," Davidson whispered as he leaned in closer to Shawn's ear. "And Lassiter is very paranoid, but he never thoroughly checks his surroundings.

Shawn tried desperately to push the detective off him, but his grip on his shirt wasn't budging one bit. He turned his head to the side, trying to get as far away as possible. Glancing down to the hands holding him against the door, he froze. His breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened. Peaking out slightly from underneath the detective's dress shirt was a brown rubber band. It was him. Detective Davidson was the one who broke into his apartment and destroyed his motorcycle. Detective Davidson was the one who somehow figured out the secret relationship. And detective Davidson was the one who caused the accident and kidnapped Lassiter. Shawn began to panic in the situation and his instincts kicked in. "Get off me you bitch!" Shawn yelled without warning and Davidson's grip faltered slightly at the sudden outburst. Without hesitation Shawn brought his knee up and slammed it in the spot no man wants to ever be hit. Davidson backed up as he hunched over in pain.

"I'm gonna kill you for that, psychic!" He yelled after Shawn as he quickly pulled the door open and ran out of the room towards safety.

Once Shawn finally climbed the last step into the main bullpen he allowed himself to breathe. He looked over his shoulder for any sign of Davidson following him, but there was none… yet. Shawn frantically looked at his surroundings, going in circles. Finally he spotted Juliet getting settled in her desk and he beelined towards her.

Juliet glanced up when she heard footsteps approaching her desk. "Hey, Shawn," she said simply when she recognized his shoes right away. After he didn't reply she looked up in confusion. Something was definitely wrong. Shawn was sweating, fidgeting nervously with a string on his shirt, and he wasn't making eye contact as he continued to glance somewhere behind her. "Is everything alright?"

"Uh, no. Everything is most definitely not alright." Shawn kept shifting his gaze from Juliet to look behind her.

Juliet gave in to her inner questions and turned to look behind herself, seeing nothing. "Shawn, I'm not the psychic one here. You have to actually tell me what's wrong."

"First of all, have you seen Gus? I really could've used his help and he bailed." Shawn drifted slightly off topic at the realization that his best friend was suddenly nowhere to be found. Juliet mumbled something about him going to the bathroom and Shawn continued with his speech. Although the second part came out more rushed and more fearful as Shawn spotted Davidson almost reaching the tops of the stairs. "Second of all, I am 99% certain that it was Detective Davidson who's behind everything and he's kind of on his way to seriously hurt me."

As soon as Shawn finished explaining himself Juliet turned around to face the detective who was on his way over to the pair. "Shawn, I need proof. I can't just put him under arrest without evidence," Juliet quickly turned again to say to Shawn, worried about the look Davidson was giving Shawn.

Shawn started to back away slowly as Davidson crossed the bullpen quicker Gab he had expected. "There's really not enough time to explain, Jules. But if you don't do something now, I don't think he's going to stop."

Juliet held back a sigh and turned back to face Davidson. "Detective Davidson, just the man I wanted to see. I need you to.." she tried to distract him, though she was unfortunately cut off halfway through by Davidson blindly walking by her.

Shawn's first instinct was to run. His second instinct was to fight back. And his third instinct was to stay put and let Davidson do whatever so he would be arrested legally. Unfortunately for Shawn, he was stupid enough to go with the third option. He planted his feet firmly into the ground and curled his hands into fists at his sides, bracing himself for the incoming pain.

He saw the fist coming from miles away. It wasn't a special hit, or a surprising hit, just a simple punch to the cheek. Although Shawn knew what was coming, he couldn't help it when his head turned with the force and he let himself drop to the floor.

In the time it took Shawn to register that he'd been punched and start to push himself off the floor, Davidson had been apprehended by multiple officers and Shawn was vaguely aware of the chief yelling out orders.

Once he managed to get his feet under him Juliet was by his side saying something along the lines of "that was very stupid Shawn" or "why didn't you warn me". But Shawn didn't care about anything other than the sight of Davidson being placed in the handcuffs he deserved.

Shawn could feel as the area under his left eye began to swell, and he felt a drop of blood fall from a small cut in the middle of the swelling. Juliet made an attempt to clean his face for him and he swatted her away. "Look, Jules, I'm fine. We need to talk to that son of a bitch right now. He knows where Lassie is."


	10. The Pain Cuts Deep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter contains HEAVY homophobic comments, and violence. Including the F slur. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SKIP TO THE NEXT CHAPTER IF YOU NEED TO

The pain was the first thing that Lassiter was aware of when he started to stir. Burning sensations flared all the way up and down his leg, his side ached with every breath he took, and his head felt like there was a drum concert going on and everyone was demanding an encore. He wanted to bring his hand up to rub his temples in an attempt to calm the angry headache, but stopped when his arm wouldn't budge. Panic ran out through his body and he shot his eyes open, which he later regretted due to the sudden light creating a second drum show right next door.

Once his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room, he glanced down to see why he was immobile. His heart sank at the sight of his wrists and ankles tied down to an old wooden chair. Instincts kicking in, he tugged forcefully at the ropes holding his limbs down. Unfortunately for him, whoever tied these knots knew exactly what they were doing and he wasn't getting out anytime soon. He didn't stop his attempt to break free until the skin on his wrists stung from being rubbed raw.

Sighing in defeat, he forced himself to stop moving to take in his new surroundings. He had been moved from the room he was in earlier. This room was much bigger, and the ceiling was higher. It was probably the main room of the warehouse. Directly in front of him was a set of large double doors, most likely leading to the outside world. My way out of here, he told himself as he took in the rest of the warehouse.

Over to his right was a smaller door, cracked open just slightly. He could see light coming from inside, and he noticed shadows interrupting the light beams every once in awhile. He wasn't alone. Lassiter strained his head to lean closer to the room to try and pick up on any conversation. The room was too far away, and people were talking over each other so it was hard to make any full sentences out.

"...do with him?.."

"...make his life hell…"

"...deserves punishment for…"

"...ways disgust me…"

"...could just end him…"

"...make it last…"

As if on cue, Lassiter dropped his to his chest in attempt to make it look like he was still unconscious when the door was thrown open. He feared his acting was unconvincing when the chatter stopped and the room fell silent again.

Steps echoed throughout the empty building and Lassiter fought hard to keep his breathing at a steady rate. He listened carefully as what sounded like two men, at the very least, made their way to where he was bound to the chair. Almost as soon as the steps had started the quickly died down.

"Wake him up," one of the unknown assailants spoke out loudly against the dead silence of the warehouse and Lassiter nearly jumped at the suddenness of the command. After a few moments of shuffling around the room went silent once again. He wanted so badly to open his eyes just a little to see how many people he was dealing with, but he kept those urges at bay as he continued to listen for anymore sounds.

He picked up the sound of someone shuffling behind him, almost as if they were struggling. Accompanied with the shuffling was what sounded like something heavy being dragged across the concrete floor. He focused on the sounds and was able to make out that it was in fact two people seemingly attempting to lift something heavy.

Suddenly he was pulled out of his focus as water was drenched over the top of his head. He gasped against the icy liquid that now covered him, soaking into his clothes. He couldn't control the slight shiver that made itself present as he looked up at the people surrounding him.

His rough guess of at least two people was way off from the five men standing in front of him. They all stood there staring him down with their arms crossed against their chest.

"Well, well, well. I have to say I am very surprised to see you in this position, Detective Lassiter."

Lassiter strained his head to see behind him, where the familiar voice was coming from. As soon as the voice made their presence known, Lassiter scowled. The leader of the Cinco Reyes, none other than Santiago Moreno.

He wasn't aware he'd said the name of the man standing now to the side of him until the man acknowledged him. "Good job, detective. I see you've done your research."

"It doesn't take very much to know what a bastard you are, Moreno," Lassiter replied through clenched teeth, not to seem angry, but in an attempt to hide his shivering.

Moreno frowned at the detective's tone of voice, before he turned to one of the other men standing guard to grab something. "Is that how you want to refer to the person keeping you hostage? To the person with all the power?" He finally turned back to face Lassiter, though he kept his hands behind his back. "Not to mention, the person with the control of what happens to you?" It was after that vague statement when Moreno finally pulled his hands out from behind his back to reveal what he was holding.

Lassiter was not usually one to flinch at the sight of knives, speaking of which, he had a rather impressive collection at home, though he always prefered the use of guns over knives. Generally easier and cleaner, but he didn't want to bring guns into play during this situation.

That being said, Lassiter couldn't help the involuntary flinch when Moreno revealed the rather large pocket knife. Moreno chuckled slightly at the reaction the head detective gave. The taller, heavily tattooed man inched his way closer to Lassiter, twirling the knife in his hand. "I've always thought you, of all people, would find a nice lady and settle down." Lassiter gulped in fear of where this statement was leading, especially given the very sharp knife present in his grip. "But to hear you've taken up that _disgusting_ lifestyle with another man, now that is surprising."

At this point, Moreno was just inches from Lassiter, contemplating what to do with the knife in his possession. Lassiter focused his attention away from the metal object that was getting closer and closer to his water soaked clothes. Almost as if a light switch was flipped, Moreno's demeanor changed. He furrowed his brows in anger and pressed the knife under Lassiter's chin.

Lassiter sucked in a breath and widened his eyes at the sudden movement and pressure of the knife against his throat. "I'm not going to kill you," Moreno said simply without moving the knife. _The knife against my throat says otherwise_. "I want to make this last as long as possible." Lassiter gulped, and Moreno smirked.

With one swift flick the knife was pulled away from his neck, only to push across his arm, leaving a trail of blood along his now ripped shirt. Lassiter clenched his teeth and held his breath to mask any sounds from leaving his body.

Unsatisfied with the detective's reaction, Moreno turned to one of his men, nodding his head slightly. Whatever the head nod meant, the other man understood and Lassiter's fear spiked as the man walked behind him, out of his view.

Suddenly the man, who Lassiter couldn't see, grabbed a fistful of his graying hair and rugged backwards, causing Lassiter to now look at the ceiling. Though he wasn't able to watch the ceiling for long, as some thin piece of fabric was placed over his eyes, blocking his vision.

The fabric was tied around the back of his head, tightly at that, and the unknown man released his grip on his hair, letting Lassiter's head fall back to his chest. His eyes glanced around in an attempt to see anything, but he was only able to see the light at the top and bottom of his fake shift blindfold.

"Perfect," Moreno muttered quietly to himself and Lassiter was losing track of his surroundings. The blindfold eliminated his vision, which he was dependent on, and that made the situation even worse.

Lassiter felt chills run throughout his body at the sensation of the knife being pressed lightly against his chest, gliding down the path of the buttons. He let out a breath of relief when the pressure of the knife was pulled away momentarily, although it was only pulled away to free Moreno's hands, allowing him to undo the buttons on Lassiter's shirt.

Most of the buttons remained intact, though a couple had popped right off and rolled away across the concrete floor. Now that Lassiter's bare chest was revealed, he was aware of the cooler air that raised goosebumps on his skin.

"Are you aware of the penalty that used to be in place for men who were found guilty of sleeping with another man, Detective?"

Lassiter rolled his eyes at the question, though he wasn't sure how well the fabric his the action. Of course he was aware. He'd done his research enough to know that the main punishment was death. But he was also aware that the times have changed and that punishment was quickly thrown out the window to make room for equal rights.

Apparently Moreno wasn't satisfied with Lassiter's lack of answer, as suggested by the fist that made itself known his lower abdomen. Any breath that was left inside of him made its exit quickly and Lassiter doubled over-more like leaned forward, thanks to the tight restraints-in an attempt to regain the lost breath.

He pulled his head back in a flinch as Moreno placed his hand under his chin to bring him back into the conversation. "As you can see, I expect and answer when I ask a question. Any silence will result in more pain. Pick your battles wisely," Moreno explained calmly for Lassiter. "Do you understand?"

A small mumble passed Lassiter's lips as he nodded his head up and down just slightly to answer Moreno. When the knife was pressed against his chest, he wasn't sure if Moreno was displeased with his mumbled response or if it was just part of his plan. "Let's try that again, shall we? _Do you understand_?" Moreno was more forceful with his words this time, the knife pressing harder into his skin with every word.

Lassiter's response was the same as earlier. A simple nod with a quiet mumble. Clearly this angered Moreno as the knife broke through the skin and found its way down the length of his chest. It took all of Lassiter's self control to keep from yelling out in pain. He clenched his teeth and threw his head back, straining his neck. He couldn't fight the small yelp that made itself heard when the knife was lifted, only to be placed down again and cut in the opposite direction.

The knife wasn't pulled away for good until who knows how much later. All Lassiter was aware of was the pain radiating from his abdomen. The cuts that were made varied in length and depth, meaning they all varied in amounts of pain. The worst of all was the last cut made, as Moreno felt the need to cut slowly and as deeply as possible without causing any major damage. If his plan was to get any kind of reaction from the detective, he failed due to the fact that Lassiter was on the verge of passing out. His chest raised with every breath, and every breath stretched the wounds, causing him to hiss in pain. His chin rested on his upper chest, head limp from fighting to control the situation.

By the time he finally gained the strength, and courage, to open his eyes, the blindfold had been removed. Avoiding looking to where the damage would be, he glanced to his side where he noticed the fabric crumbled by the foot of the chair.

After staring at the fabric on the ground for what felt like hours, He faced forward only to notice that the men that were once surrounding him were gone. The sudden emptiness in the room sparked his curiosity on how long he'd been fighting unconsciousness for.

He pushed all thoughts on the other men aside and finally talked some sense into himself to just look down. When he finally gave in and looked down, his breath hitched at the sight. What he expected to see sprawled across his lower abdomen was a series of cuts in a random fashion, intersecting each other at some points. What he actually saw was a word. A fully legible, not to mention painful, word.

It was at this point that he let himself go, dropping his chin back to his chest, letting his eyes roll back into his head. He was tired of fighting against his dire need of sleep, and when he was unconscious, he wasn't aware of the pain or anything else going on around him. And hey, seeing black nothingness was better than seeing the word " _FAG_ " cut into his skin, staring back at him, taunting him.


	11. Lost, But Found

The only sound that echoed throughout the small viewing room was the repetitive tap, tap, tap, of Shawn's sneaker on the concrete floor. He hadn't been able to stop the uncontrollable tapping since Juliet went in to interrogate the rogue cop.

Shawn watched Juliet's facial expression change to match her tone of voice and he frowned. She wasn't getting anywhere with him. Davidson was refusing to tell anyone anything, and the chief was refusing to let Shawn into the interrogation room.

It was obvious why Shawn wasn't allowed in the room with the man who assaulted him just minutes earlier, and that made him more furious because Davidson was getting away with everything. Lassiter was missing, most likely injured as well, and the Chief wouldn't let Shawn help get the information out of his captor.

He was pulled out of whatever sort of trance he was in when Juliet suddenly emerged from the other room, slamming the metal door behind her. She turned to face the chief, shielding Shawn out of their conversation.

Shawn chuckled at her attempt to keep him out as he perked his head up and listened carefully. His hearing wasn't part of his "special gift", but if he focused he could usually make out most of the information.

In this case, Juliet was telling the Chief that Davidson wasn't talking and their only hope was to send Shawn in. He turned his attention back to the one way glass, focusing on the man handcuffed to the table.

"Shawn, if you want, you can go talk to him," the Chief offered calmly to him after she stepped away from Juliet.

He turned back to where the Chief was standing and nodded his head slightly. "Thank you," was all he said before stepping around her and pushing open the metal door.

Shawn took a deep breath before putting his first foot in the room and approaching the lone metal table in the center of the brick room. His gaze shifted to the mirror on his left and he hoped Davidson wouldn't spill anything about his relationship. He wanted to keep that under wraps as long as he possibly could.

Shaking himself from his thoughts he looked back to the detective sitting in front of him. Davidson had a smirk drawn across his face, and Shawn surpassed the urge to shiver at the sight.

As he forced himself to relax, he leaned forward and placed his free hand on the table, letting his right arm hang freely in its sling. "So, Davidson, how long have you been attending your anger management classes?" Shawn started off calmly and off subject to ease the detective into talking, and not risk anything else slip.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Davidson spoke up. "About a month now," he mumbled.

A switch flipped in Shawn's mind and he leaned closer to the detective. "Why, exactly, were you given mandatory anger management classes in the first place?" He questioned, even though he was starting to get a rough idea.

Davidson raised an eyebrow at Shawn's sudden change in demeanor, though it didn't stop him for answering the question. "I punched another officer," he answered flatly.

Shawn nodded his head at the reply as if it didn't affect him, when he was actually forcing himself to avoid any celebratory outbursts. "And why would you do such a thing, Detective?"

At this question, Davidson turned his attention back to the table and refused to look back up at the man questioning him.

"Is it because said officer was going to out you for your connection to the Cinco Reyes?" Shawn suggested and Davidson popped his head up quickly at the statement.

"What? How did you…" Davidson began saying but quickly shut his mouth when he realized he almost confessed.

Shawn slammed his fist down on the table, causing Davidson to jump in his shocked state, before he continued. "Let me guess… You encountered a Cinco Reyes member in a drug trade, and you figured you could make a little money on the side tipping them off?" Shawn hypothesized and he could tell he was starting to get into Davidson's head. "You must've made good money working with them, am I right?"

"ENOUGH!" Davidson suddenly yelled as he balled his hands into fists and reached as far forward as he could for Shawn, which wasn't very far thanks to the handcuffs linking him to the table, and Shawn quickly jumped back to avoid any conflict.

Mentally he gave himself a pat on the back for pushing Davidson to his breaking point as he slowly approached the table once again. "Obviously Detective Lassiter got too close to figuring you out, so you did the only thing you could think of. You kidnapped him."

Shawn watched as Davidson was no longer looking at him like he wanted to kill him, instead he was simply staring at the chain that prevented him from doing so. He found himself slightly startled when the detective spoke up.

"Fine. I'll admit it. I was selling information to the Cinco Reyes when we were getting close to finding them," he confessed without looking up from the table.

Shawn leaned against the table like he was previously. "Where's Lassiter?" He asked simply and sternly.

Davidson was silent for a few moments as if he was contemplating actually giving away the location. "11 Anacapa street," he answered after deep thought.

Immediately after hearing the address, Shawn turned on his heels and reached for the door handle. He stopped dead in his tracks when Davidson continued speaking.

"You might want to hurry. Moreno doesn't like your ways," he hissed before Shawn had the chance to leave. "He's probably going to make Lassiter pay for it."

When Shawn was certain Davidson was done talking, he pulled the door open and hurried out. Just as he figured, the others who he presumed were watching the whole time and preparing the department to go get their head detective back, had already left the viewing room except for one Juliet O'Hara.

"What did he mean by "your ways", Shawn?" She asked cautiously, not sure of what the answer could possibly be.

Shawn was shocked at the question and said the first thing that came to his mind. "My psychic abilities, Jules. Now come on, we have to get Lassie back." He hoped he was convincing enough in his quick cover up, and let out a small breath of relief when she nodded her head and followed him out of the viewing room.

* * *

 

Shawn watched as the beautiful city scape faded into the bland, gray industrial warehouse zone as the car continued to drive. It was finally done. After two long days of being without his boyfriend, they were finally going to get him. His condition was still unknown at this point, since Davidson refused to give up anymore information, but everyone was assuming for the worst.

"Mr. Spencer!"

He suddenly looked up from the spot on the window he'd taken an interest in for the past few minutes. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he looked up to see the chief staring at him and waiting impatiently. "Sorry," he mumbled more to himself as he turned in his seat to focus his attention on her.

The Chief reached into the backseat to hand Shawn a decently thick file folder. "Santiago Moreno," she explained simply.

Looking down at the file in his hands he raised an eyebrow at the name. Moreno was who Davidson mentioned as he was exiting the interrogation room. "Who exactly is he?" He questioned as he began to flip through the pages and pictures within the folder.

"Leader of the Cinco Reyes for the last three years," she straightened in her seat before she continued. "One tough son of a bitch to catch. Always managed to escape our grip, though now that we have Davidson in custody I think today is the day we finally catch him."

He closed the file and handed it back to her, having memorized all the documents inside already. "What do you need me to do?"

Turning her head to look out the window at the building they were slowly approaching she answered him sternly, "Stay back."

"But Chief!" He exclaimed, almost shooting out of his seat to argue.

She turned back to face him with a frown on her face, and Shawn struggled to decipher it as fear or sorrow. "We cannot afford to lose you and you are technically a civilian so you are to stay back until the area is clear."

Shawn nodded his head at her statement and looked down to his lap where he fiddled with a loose string on his sling.

* * *

 

The drums would never stop. Even while unconscious the concert continued to play out in his head. Sighing, he opened his eyes again to see what (if anything) had changed around him.

The only significant change was the number of people within the room had been decreased to just one other gang member, seemingly keeping an eye on Lassiter. Though he did notice his shirt had been buttoned back up sometime in his lack of consciousness.

He glanced ahead of him to the set of double doors leading to the outside and concluded it was still daytime, as seen by the stream of light filtering through the crack in the door, unless it was the next day. At this point the lone gang member in the room had noticed his wake and was heading to get the boss.

Just what Lassiter needed. More pain. What Lassiter wasn't expecting, was the fear on Moreno's face. The man in question leaned down to his level and looked him in the eyes as he cracked his knuckles. "Allow me to apologize for my abruptness, but plans have changed. I was hoping to spend more time with you, unfortunately our times up."

Confusion was the only emotion Lassiter was feeling. Not scared at the sudden change in Moreno. Not cheerful that this was ending soon. Simply confused at his meaning. Then he heard it. It was quiet, but easily recognizable. Sirens, in the distance, getting closer.

He had to fight the smile from creeping across his face in fear Moreno would lash out. Although it seems he heard the sirens as well and he lashed out anyhow. Taking a small step back he slammed his fist into Lassiter's jaw.

His head jerked to the side with the force of the punch and he felt the blood drip from the fresh split lip he was just given. Turning his head back to face Moreno he chuckled slightly and decided to speak up. "Why don't you just give it up, Moreno? Soon enough most of the entire SBPD is going to burst through those doors and the gig will be up."

Moreno, not happy with the comment, snarled at Lassiter. Without any warning a fist was forced into the detective's gut. Instantly full of regret from speaking up, he doubled over in pain. Fire spread across his abdomen at the hit. The fresh wounds that were hidden under his thin shirt had started to bleed again, staining the lower half of the fabric.

A hand gripping a fistfull of his hair and shoving backwards forced him to sit up right, stretching out the cuts and feeding the fire that had settled on top of them. He hissed in pain through clenched teeth as Moreno spoke.

"As much as I would like to continue this little session," he started and paused only to reach into his pocket for another knife, probably the same one that left behind the word on his stomach. "I'm afraid it's time for this to end."

Lassiter watched carefully as the knife was brought closer to him before it changed course and lodged itself under the rope that held his wrists to the wooden chair. With one swift movement the rope split and Moreno moved to his other wrist.

Fear began to kick in once his limbs were freed from the chair, only free momentarily before his wrists were tied together, and Moreno began to lift him out of the chair he was previously confined to. He leaned heavily on the taller man to keep from falling as he was down to one leg.

In an instant Lassiter found himself suddenly in front of Moreno facing the double doors dead ahead. He watched carefully as the metal doors were thrown forward and light flooded the warehouse. Lassiter had to raise his hands to block the sun from blinding himself as he watched members of the SBPD entered with their guns raised. The knife was lifted and pressed against his throat once the action calmed down and the officers took position aiming in their direction.

"Drop the knife, Moreno!" He heard someone yell out, and he recognized the voice immediately. He strained against the pressure on his throat to find who the voice belonged to. When he finally saw his partner Juliet O'Hara he relaxed slightly. She would do everything in her power to keep him safe.

He continued to scan the crowd for someone else. Someone he knew wouldn't leave his side no matter what. Someone who never left his mind for the duration of this ordeal. Someone he loved.

Lassiter let out a breath of relief at the sight of Shawn. The younger man pushed his way through the members of the SBPD, many of which were not happy with his decision, especially the Chief who was standing a few feet away.

As Shawn pushed his way through the lines, careful not to bump into anyone, he saw him. And he looked like hell. A trail of dried blood emerged from his hairline, fresh blood dropped from his bottom lip, bruises formed on his cheek bones, and Shawn found it hard to look at the lower portion of the man standing ahead of him. Clearly his leg was broken and was doing no good in keeping him standing, his leaning on Moreno was doing a better job at that, and Shawn had trouble deciphering if the blood stain on his shirt was fresh or if it had been there for a while.

Shaking his head slightly to pull himself from his thoughts he made eye contact. Never had he ever seen Lassiter's eyes filled with so much fear, he was just glad to see he still had a glimpse of hope as well. As long as Lassiter didn't give up on himself, he would make it out alive.

"Drop the guns or he's dead!" Moreno yelled suddenly, breaking the eerie silence that had filled the room.

Shawn watched as Juliet tightened her grip on her gun, looking for any open shot. "You know we can't do that!" She shot back to the criminal, as her face remained neutral.

Moreno frantically glanced around the room. He was completely surrounded. No way of escape no matter what he did. His grip on the knife tightened and Shawn panicked.

"Take the shot, Jules!" Shawn whispered to his side, not to alert the target.

Juliet scowled as she kept her focus ahead of her. "I don't have one, Lassiter is too close."

It seemed as if Moreno could sense the tension rising, and his time running out. With one quick movement he raised his hand above his head, intending to plunge the knife somewhere into Lassiter.

However, he didn't get far before the first shot rang out, causing the knife to fall from his hand. Moreno simply stared at the new hole in the palm of his hand, forgetting about his hostage.

Without any hesitation two more shots were fired from somewhere within the line, one hitting the left side of Moreno's chest, the other hitting the right side. After what seemed like ages, Moreno crumpled to the ground with a slim chance of survival.

Shawn watched with fear as Lassiter quickly followed Moreno to the floor due to his lack of support. Ignoring the protests of other officers, mainly the Chief, Shawn sprinted across the concrete floor before coming to a kneeling halt by Lassiter's side.

Up close Lassiter looked even more like hell. Dark circles took up the area under his eyes, the left side of his face was slightly swollen around the bruises, and he was starting to shiver even though it was scorching hot in the warehouse.

Remembering the blood soaked shirt, Shawn turned his focus to Lassiter's abdomen. From this distance he was able to tell that the blood had yet to dry, meaning there was a fresh wound that needed pressure.

He slipped off his top layer, disregarding the sling as it dropped to the floor. As he sat there in his undershirt he dreaded what he would find under the now red fabric across Lassiter's stomach.

Pushing all thoughts aside he reached for the buttons and instead of undoing them one by one, he grabbed a fistful of fabric and tugged, revealing the cuts across his stomach as buttons clattered against the concrete floor.

Shawn gasped the second he made sense of the cuts and it took all of his courage not to turn away from the sight ahead of him. Thankfully none of the cuts looks too deep to cause any major damage, but Shawn worried about the amount of blood. Quickly he pressed his extra shirt against Lassiter's abdomen, also taking the opportunity to block the horrific sight from his coworkers. Involuntarily Shawn felt himself flinch slightly as Lassiter's breath hitched at the sudden force against his stomach and he hissed in pain.

Without releasing any pressure from the balled up fabric against the cuts, Shawn turned to hover over Lassiter's face and smile slightly. "Hey, everything's going to be fine, okay?" Shawn said calmly in an attempt to comfort Lassiter.

Lassiter looked up at Shawn as he spoke, ignoring what he was saying as he just took in his appearance. He was truly worried that he would never get the chance to see those beautiful hazel eyes again, and now he felt it difficult to look away.

Tossing all hell to the window, Lassiter reached his bound wrists up to grab fistfuls of the white fabric and pull Shawn down into a sudden yet needed kiss.

Shawn melted into Lassiter at the warmth of his lips against his own. He reached his free hand down to cup the non-bruised side of Lassiter's face, as his casted arm continued to hold the fabric against his stomach.

Lassiter was the first to pull away and break the connection, and Shawn frowned. Resting his head carefully against the concrete floor, Lassiter looked up to the man above him and smiled. "I love you, Shawn," he mumbled out before his eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness.

Shawn's heart raced at not only the words that left Lassiter's mouth, but the sight of him now unresponsive on the ground. Carefully he tapped against his cheeks in an attempt to wake him up, but inevitably that failed.

Before it even registered in Shawn's head that they had called for an ambulance to be on sight, he was being lifted off the ground and ushered away from the man he didn't get the chance to say "I love you" back to. He fought with all his will against the medics who pushed him away from the scene, desperately trying to get back to where he previously was.

A sudden hand on his arm cause him to jump and turn to see who the culprit was. Somehow he found himself shocked to see that it was in fact Juliet, attempting to help calm him down. "If we leave now we can meet them at the hospital," she offered to Shawn in his emotional state. Frantically he nodded his head at the offer, not finding any words to show his appreciation.

He followed Juliet's lead of climbing into the empty unmarked cruiser as he watched Lassiter's stretcher being loaded into the ambulance ahead of them. Subconsciously he reached his hand up to lightly brush over his lips, fearing that would be the last time he felt Lassiter's lips against his.


	12. Safe And Sound

Never in his life had Shawn ever been so quiet before. He's always been known as the guy who says or does anything to lighten the mood, but today that guy was nowhere to be found. Instead, the members of the SBPD who continued to the hospital watched as the usually hyper psychic paced back and forth frantically with a hand on his lips, clearly deep in thought.

An hour. They've been waiting in the hospital with no word on Lassiter's condition for an hour. This extended period of time has granted Shawn the perfect opportunity to let his thoughts flow freely. Many images of Lassiter's pale face or cut up stomach made itself known to Shawn's mind, but his thoughts always drifted back to one thing—more specifically one phrase— " _I love you, Shawn_ ".

Every time the phrase repeated itself in his head, Shawn felt the edge of his mouth start to smile. The tall handsome Irish man, who he's had his eyes set on from the very beginning, loves him.

Continuing to pace back and forth while trying to sort his thoughts, he only stopped when a familiar face stepped in front of him. "Not now, Jules," he said simply said as he attempted to step around her.

Quickly reaching up to grab his shoulder, she prevented his persistent pacing. "Shawn, listen to me. I need you to calm down, okay? Lassiter is going to be fine."

Shawn nodded his head at the words, but didn't really acknowledge them. Inside he still felt like it was his fault. Maybe if he hadn't pushed Lassiter into telling Juliet, then they never would have been leaving the station at that point and he wouldn't have been taken. He brought his attention back to the woman standing in front of him when a sudden hand was being waved in front of his face.

"Don't go silent on me, Shawn. Just tell me what thoughts are going through your head right now," she pleaded gently as she let go of his shoulders and reached for his hand instead.

Letting her suggestion register in his head he looked down to where she was now holding his hand in a comforting manner. "I pushed him, Jules," he blurted out. "I pushed him and I shouldn't have. Maybe if I didn't push him so hard about it then this wouldn't have happened."

Juliet frowned at Shawn's outburst. "What do you mean, you pushed him, Shawn? Did you two get in a fight?"

Surprisingly enough Shawn actually laughed at her question. Him and Lassiter fighting? Unheard of. Sure they've had small arguments here and there, but they never had an actual fight. "No, no. Not a physical fight. More like I pushed him to do something he didn't want to do. Something he wasn't ready to do."

"Well, what was it? What were you pushing him to do?" Juliet asked cautiously, chewing on her lip.

Shawn glanced down to the floor and took the small opportunity to rub his eyes free of the moisture that was starting to build up. "You know, that's actually the funny part," he chuckled slightly before continuing. "When you look at Lassiter, you see someone who just got out of a serious relationship, and someone who wasn't ready to start a new one, let alone with a man, right?"

He paused just long enough to watch her nod her head in response.

"Well, that's how he saw himself too. He was very paranoid at the beginning that someone would find out and his badass detective image would be ruined," he paused yet again to take a deep breath and forced himself to say what he was trying to say in the first place. "I pushed him to tell you, Jules. I wanted him to tell you about us when we got to the restaurant."

Juliet was shocked. Her mouth dropped open slightly as she registered what he said. Finally she understood why Shawn had insisted on riding with Lassiter to the restaurant.

He watched as she processed this and he mentally smacked himself. "Don't take it personally, Jules. He didn't want to tell anyone. Gus only knew because I'm a blabbermouth, but I felt like you had a right to know which is why I was pushing him so hard."

"How long have you been together?" She asked simply after removing any shock from her face. This wasn't her time or place to feel betrayed by her partner, by her friend. Hell, the man in question was probably currently stuck in a hospital bed, being poked and proded by medical staff.

Shawn felt himself laugh slightly at the memory of how they got together, but that's a story for another day. "Only about two months, but they've been the best two month of my life."

Juliet couldn't help the smile her lips formed at the sight of Shawn being so happy from a simple thought of Lassiter. "I'll put the whole not-being-told thing to the side for now, but don't think I won't have a word with him when he's up."

"You and me both," Shawn chuckled as he shoved his hands in his pockets. For the short few minutes he and Juliet were talking, he almost forgot why they were in the hospital in the first place.

Numbly he found his way to the row of chairs against the far wall. He let himself drop into the first open chair he saw and placed his head in his hands. Lassiter didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve anything that happened to him in that warehouse, and he especially didn't deserve to have that word possibly permanently scarred on himself.

Nothing Juliet was currently saying to him as she gently rubbed his back to keep him calm was registering in his head. Instead, his mind kept flashing back to the warehouse. From the flash of hope in Lassiter's eyes, to the mangled cuts on his stomach, to the sudden kiss that was followed by the words that continued to echo in his head.

Only the calling of his name accompanied with Juliet shaking his shoulders pulled him from the trance or daydream he was previously in. He looked at her with his eyebrows furrowed at her change in action. Without saying anything she simply turned slightly and pointed to where ad doctor was now standing in the waiting room.

"Family and friends of Carlton Lassiter?" The doctor seemingly repeated himself now that he had the attention of more people in the small room.

In what seemed like a split second, Shawn jumped up from the chair and found himself in front of the man with the clipboard. "How is he?" he questioned when Juliet joined him at the front of the waiting room.

The doctor, whose name tag read Stanton, glanced back down to his clipboard before he looked back up at the group that had formed around him. "Well, for starters, he's severely dehydrated so he's been placed on a fluid line. He also has an open oblique tibial shaft fracture-" Stanton paused at the confused looks he was receiving and explained what he was talking about. "Er, his tibia fractured at an angle and pierced through the skin, so we had to go in and surgically fix it before it could be casted. There are several cuts that run along his abdomen and only one required stitches."

Shawn let out a small breath of relief he wasn't aware he was holding once the doctor stopped talking without mentioning the word the cuts spelled out. He was sure that Lassiter's coworkers don't need to know that small detail. "Can we see him, please?" He pleaded slightly to the doctor who holds all visitation power.

Reluctantly Dr. Stanton nodded his head at Shawn's plea. "Yes. However, since he just got out of surgery, I'm only going to allow close friends and family at the moment. He's currently in room 312 down that hallway," he explained as he pointed towards the hallway he was talking about.

After a quick nod of understanding the visitation rules, Shawn turned and took off down the hallway. 312 was the last room on the right, and he paused outside with his hand on the door handle. With a small glance into the room, he saw a still figure in the bed. Two days of hell later and Lassiter is finally safe in more or less one piece.

One shaky breath later, Shawn turned the metal door knob in his hand and pushed the door open slowly. The room was silent, say for the steady beeping of the few machines Lassiter was hooked up to. For the first time in the short few months they've been dating, Lassiter finally looked peaceful in his sleep. Sure he was currently sedated, but that didn't change the fact that he was finally getting the rest he deserved after working so hard on this case.

Making his way across the small room, Shawn glanced up and down the form lying in the bed, keeping track of the injuries Dr. Stanton had listed only minutes ago. Any of the cuts he mentioned were hidden under the plain white blanket he was tucked under.

As a matter of fact, the only part of him that wasn't under a blanket, besides his head obviously, was his leg. The cast stopped short of his knee, and was elevated slightly by an extra pillow under his heel. Shawn couldn't help the quiet chuckle at the thought of them having matching casts.

Carefully Shawn let himself drop into the lone chair next to the bed Lassiter was immobilized in. He reached his hand out slowly to lift up the blanket and take Lassiter's hand in his.

The second their hands connected Shawn felt himself grin as a small tear escaped from the corner of his eye. Everything was going to be alright. Lassiter will recover quickly and soon enough everything will go back to normal. Leaning forward slightly, Shawn placed a gentle kiss on the back of the hand he had yet to let go.

"You never struck me as a crier," a quiet voice croaked out as Shawn pulled his head away from the edge of the bed.

Immediately Shawn snapped his head up in the direction of the voice and his heart began to race as his jaw dropped at the sight of the waking man. Throwing any unimportant thoughts aside he jumped up from the chair and connected their lips in a well deserved overdue reunion kiss. He was careful to avoid the bruises on the side of Lassiter's face as he cupped his cheek. Lassiter followed suit and let his hand get tangled in Shawn's messy hair.

The only thing that separated the two was the beeping rhythm that had sped up in account for the sudden increase in Lassiter's heart beat.

Shawn let his hand linger on Lassiter's cheek as he hovered over the man below him. "In response to your earlier statement, I wanna see how you handle your emotions if I'm ever in your position." Lassiter chuckled slightly, which escalated into a coughing fit from his dry throat after not talking for a couple hours.

Reaching over to the bedside table, Shawn grabbed the plastic cup of ice chips that was left there by a nurse before he entered the room. Taking the spoon out of the cup, he gave a few small chips to Lassiter to sooth the dryness.

After the few small ice chips dissolved and Lassiter was able to swallow the water, he looked to where Shawn had returned to the plastic chair at his bedside. He took Shawn's appearance into consideration and thought back carefully to what happened a few days prior.

Vaguely he remembered the crash. Mostly just Shawn yelling something before his memory goes blank. He also remembered all the pain that followed in the days he was stuck in that warehouse. What he really wanted to know though, was how everything was handled on Shawn's side of things.

"Don't hurt yourself trying to think so hard, Lassie," Shawn chuckled at the sight of him deep in thought. "Just say the words and I'll tell you everything you need to know."

"How did you find me?" was the first and only question to come to Lassiter's mind.

Shawn sat up straighter in his chair as he faced Lassiter. "To make a long story short, I got Davidson to confess. Of course it wasn't as simple as asking him where you were. Why would it ever be that simple?" He paused to mentally kick himself for struggling with this. It was all over. Lassiter was safe, so why was he having a hard time recounting everything?

"After I accused him of kidnapping, his anger kicked in and he got physical, but I managed to get away from him. Once I found Juliet, she told me that circumstantial evidence wasn't enough to arrest him, so let's just say he's also being charged with assaulting a police consultant," Shawn smirked as he gestured slightly to the black eye forming on the left side of his face.

Anger formed on Lassiter's face and Shawn could see that he had his hands curled into firsts under the blanket. "I'm going to kill him for that. I told him not to touch you," he growled quietly.

Shawn smiled at the thoughtfulness of the statement, though there were more important matters to deal with now that Lassiter was back and awake. "You should hold off on that while you think of a way to explain to the department how we've been secretly dating for the past two months now that they know about us."

The look on Lassiter's face would only be described as a child being told their family pet had died. His jaw went slack, his eyes widened, and his eyes were filled with confusion, fear, and shock.

Definitely not the reaction Shawn was expecting and he couldn't help the small chuckle at the sight of how quickly Lassiter went from being angry to straight up scared. "You don't remember do you?"

"This is not a laughing matter, Shawn. What did Davidson do?" Lassiter once again clenched his fists as he waited to hear what Davidson did to ruin his image.

Shawn contemplated between telling Lassiter the truth and making something up on the fly. There would be now way of telling how he would react to knowing he was the one who outed their relationship. Although to be fair, he probably thought he was going to die, so he had a valuable reason for his actions. "Actually it was you," he watched as Lassiter was shocked at the short sentence. "You kissed me in the middle of the warehouse before you.. Before you said-"

"I love you, Shawn," Lassiter completed while Shawn seemed to struggle through repeating the words.

The second time hearing that statement was real. It wasn't an "I'm going to die so I want you to feel better about the situation" statement. It was a genuine "I really love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you" statement.

In what seemed like milliseconds, Shawn was up out of his chair and looking down at Lassiter. "I love you too, Carlton," he admitted to the man below him and closed the gap the separated them, connecting into a passionate kiss.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I highly contemplated having Shawn say "I love you, Lassie" vs "I love you, Carlton" because whenever I say Carlton I cringe because it just sounds weird to me. But I figured in the context of the story first names should probably be used for that first declaration of love


	13. Tell Me More

The only sound that filled the small hospital room was the continuous beeping of the machines Lassiter was hooked up to, verifying he was still alive. Although he was very alive, he had been in and out of consciousness over the past two days in the hospital.

Shawn tried his best to stay awake as he half listened to whatever episode of C.O.P.S was playing on the tv opposite of Lassiter's bed. Throughout the past week of what seemed like hell, Shawn found it impossible to sleep when Lassiter was who knew where getting who knew what done to him. Now that he was safe and sound, recovering in the hospital, Shawn struggled to stay awake.

In the end, Shawn gave into his body's pleas for much needed rest, and that's why his neck was currently throbbing after being in a weird position for who knows how long-actually, glancing slightly at the clock, he concluded he was out for about three hours.

He sat up in his chair, popping his back as he did so. _Never sleep in hospital chairs again_ , he reminded himself as he tried to sooth the pain in his neck by popping it as well.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," a familiar voice to his left spoke up and Shawn snapped his head up in the direction the voice was coming from.

He frowned when he saw Lassiter sitting up in bed, scooping what little jello remained in the small container he was holding. "I thought I told you to wake me up when you woke up," he pouted slightly.

Setting the now empty container on the bedside tray, Lassiter chuckled slightly. "I was going to, but you looked like hell and I figured you could use the rest."

Shawn's frown turned into a smile and he nodded at the gesture. His way of saying 'thanks'. Almost as quickly as the smile formed, it faded and Shawn turned his attention to the ground. He looked back up slightly, opened his mouth to speak, and closed it almost instantly. How was it that he, Shawn Spencer, the king of talking about anything and everything, was struggling to find the right words?

After what seemed like an eternity of thinking, he finally opened his mouth to speak. "Um.. I just wanted to say… About the cuts on your stomach-"

"I don't want to talk about it," Lassiter immediately blurted out, cutting Shawn off.

Shawn hid the urge to laugh at the statement. Of course he didn't want to talk about it, and Shawn wasn't expecting him to. "I understand that, but that's not what I was going to say," he explained as he watched Lassiter's eyebrow raise in confusion. "No one else knows."

Lassiter visibly relaxed and Shawn elaborated. "When I got to you in that warehouse, the first thing I did was stop the bleeding. In doing so, I hid the cuts from the view of others. Of course the various doctors and paramedics that saved you know, but they didn't tell anyone else."

A few moments of silence passed before Lassiter finally spoke up. "Thank you," he stated simply without taking his eyes off his lap.

Shawn left Lassiter alone, not wanting to approach anymore uncomfortable subjects. After a small knock at the door, he focused his attention on who was now standing in the doorway.

Without a second thought, Shawn jumped up from his chair and made his way out of the hospital room. "I'm gonna go get a.. Coffee.." he mumbled as an excuse to not be present when Juliet questioned Lassiter on their relationship.

Lassiter kept his head lowered in shame without looking towards the doorway. He already knew what was coming. He shouldn't have been so selfish by excluding Juliet from something she had a right to know about.

"Carlton, can you stop sulking for one minute and look at me?" Juliet finally broke the awkward silence that formed between them as she approached his hospital bed slowly. When the man in question didn't budge, Juliet sighed. "You know, Carlton, I get it."

Without moving his head, Lassiter quirked a brow at that comment and was very confused on the direction his partner was going.

Juliet noticed the shift in behaviour and smiled slightly. "You were trying something new, out of your comfort zone, and I know you don't like to bring personal matters into the station. I'm not mad that you didn't tell me, I just want you to know that I'm here for you if you ever need anything."

A few more moments of silence passed before Lassiter finally lifted his head to look at the junior detective. "Thank you, O'Ha-," he caught himself halfway through and decided it was finally time for him to step out of his business only persona and call his friend by her first name. "Thank you, Juliet," he forced out with a slight struggle.

"Okay that was weird, let's just stick to O'Hara," Juliet commented after hearing her partner use her first name for probably the first time. Not that she didn't appreciate the thought, she was just so used to him using only her last name.

"Agree to agree," Lassiter chuckled after the look on her face. Juliet followed Lassiter's lead and laughed at the awkward situation.

After the laughter died down, Juliet lowered herself into the chair next to the bed. "Now that that's out of the way, would I be pushing my boundaries by asking for details?"

His only response to the question was a raised brow. Simply because he was confused as to what she exactly wanted to know.

"What if you start from the beginning and leave out any details you don't want me to know?," she suggested.

Contemplating the request took a few short moments before he nodded his head in agreement and said, "Alright. That's fair."

Juliet instantly lit up with a smile across her face. She looked like a teenage girl gossiping at school. "Well, how did you two discover your feelings? It seemed like you hated him, how did you get around that?"

Lassiter chuckled slightly at the memory. Something he wasn't necessarily proud of, yet he managed to find someone who makes him happy. "Basically.. I was drunk. And I mean really drunk," he started explaining.

Shawn peeked through the small window next to the door with a smile. Everything was finally back to normal and better than ever. Starting now he would get to live his new life with Lassiter in the comfort of the police station without anymore secrets.

Glancing down to the small cup of warm coffee he was holding, he gulped down the rest before tossing the cup in the nearest trash can. _It's probably best to give Juliet more time to gossip_ , he thought to himself with a grin as he walked away with no clear destination in mind.

**The End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read my story. If you enjoyed please leave a comment and a kudos. Ideas for a continuation of this story would be greatly appreciated


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